FICLET: One Thousand Reasons, Harry and Snape. PG-13

[icarus]

This drabble is was requested by painless_j on behalf of aubrem:

One Thousand Reasons
By Icarus



Harry ducked behind a boulder as the spell skimmed overhead, white-hot and singeing. It sprayed across the rock behind him in a splash of white, turning it ochre and rancid as the mosses died. The attack paused, and Harry heard a low gasping breath off to his left. A greasy dark figure was curled at the base of the boulder.

"Snape," he whispered.

"Hsst! Find your own refuge, Potter," Snape hissed at him. His black eyes gleamed in the dark. "Perhaps your aim is to bring the attack down on me you spiteful little wretch, but rest assured: unlike your besotted fans, I will take no extraordinary measures to save your hide."

"I ought to leave you here," Harry said, stripping off his outer cloak. "But I'm not like that. I'll transform, and you can climb up and we'll get out of here."

"Transform?" Snape sat up a little, clearly startled. Then he sneered. "Taking after your family and marking every tree, are you? You Animagi are all alike. You think it's a solution to everything."

"Take it or leave it, Snape," Harry said, in a tone that Hermione would protest. "You go ahead and transform yourself then."

Snape froze.

Harry added in the cold sudden silence, "Professor McGonagall told me you learned. After you found about Sirius'."

"Black would have never gotten away with so much had he not had the audacity to attempt that in school!" Snape uncurled from his crouch at the base of the boulder. "If you know so much, then surely you know it is not necessarily useful. No one, not even Dumbledore, can choose the form."

Harry bundled his cloak around his waist and drew his wand, nodding absently. "You can climb up onto my fur and hang on."

Snape paused, his eyes sliding to the left and right, as if seeking escape or guidance. Finally he said, "Very well."

Within seconds the dark shadow of Snape shrank and elongated on the ground, wriggling. It lightened and squirmed. Harry took a step back. At his feet was a writhing, silvery centipede, almost a foot long. It crawled towards him, rising up on its front legs eagerly as Harry backed away.

After a long moment, it darkened and Snape appeared in its place.

"Afraid, Potter?" he said in a low, pleased voice.

"I'm afraid I might step on you," Harry said in disgust.

"I would not recommend it." Snape leaned closer until Harry could see his yellow teeth. "This particular variety is especially poisonous."

"I'm not afraid," Harry said, and hardened his jaw. To prove it, he drew his wand and circled the complex patterns in the air. His body began to stretch and lengthen, fur bristling along his face, itching.

Then Harry stamped his hooves, tossing his antlers a bit, trying not to let the whites of his eyes show. But he couldn't help it in this form. Stags were fast; but they were also hunted and afraid.

"Then the more fool you," Snape answered, and seized an antler. He smiled. "Stay absolutely still as I climb," he said in Harry's ear. The ear flicked. "Or else I won't be able to prevent the bite."

Comments

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

God. That ficlet is brilliant. Especially in that Snape actually successfully manages to cross the chasm. My estimation of him as a teacher just went up. It's usually such a hopeless task.

Icarus

[cordelia_v]

Of course it was brilliant. It was my idea, and Atra's a staggeringly gifted writer.

I'd been spamming her in chat with this essay outline the night before, just pasting in paragraph after paragraph of text. (and how I can reconcile this behavior with the firm belief that I'm keeping to my vow of abstinence, God alone only knows. I'm hoping that She has a soft spot for hypocrites like me and Percy) And the next day, Atra just translated it into a ficlet. And it was so much better than I could have done, on my own.

In fact, that ficlet gave me at least another week's worth of will power on the vow, since it demonstrated that fictional expression of an idea was far superior, so why should I bother?

That same day, I turned that meditation into a post on writing ah, but it was so not an essay; you can go look at it, if you like. It was the post just before this ficlet post. My post in itself was not remarkable, but it evoked a series of lengthy and thoughtful responses from fanfic writers on my flist, about the different processes of writing fiction vs. non-fiction.


"But no," Cordelia shook her head firmly. "I haven't written anything like an essay or review for, oh, about six weeks now." She smiled at Icarus, apparently quite satisfied with herself.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm counting your "not reviews" in your journal.

"But - but... they're recs...."

Icarus: "Three, four, five...."

[cordelia_v]

"But a rec is certainly not the same thing as a review," Cordelia explained earnestly to Icarus. Cordelia knew that Icarus had not had the benefit of a good Catholic education, and was simply unable to grasp the fine but crucial distinction between a venial and a mortal sin, after all.

"If it's less than four sentences, it simply cannot be a review," she said, giving Icarus a pitying look. "Even if it's loaded with adjectives, deftly summarizes the heart of the story's appeal, and seduces half the flist into clicking on the link, it's still not a review if it doesn't meet the necessary length requirements."

Percy cast a sideways glance at Cordelia. He'd become familiar with this sort of Catholic logic chopping after months of working with Cordelia in committee.

Of course, he reflected, it wasn't all bad. Some Catholic girls he knew, intent on preserving their virginity, had gotten awfully good at oral not sex, and might even be enthusiastic devotees of anal penetration. But of course, they could still wear white to their weddings, with a clear conscience.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Who here votes Penelope Clearwater was a classic Catholic girl? *raises hand*

Icarus

[cordelia_v]

*coughs* Well, yes. I did have her in mind. Her fierce determination to hold on to her virtue, combined with her willingness to . . .explore other avenues, helped Percy to avoid confronting some aspects of heterosexuality head-on for several years.