Hair Today ...

Hair Today ...

'Are you sure?' asked Harry tentatively.

The headmaster nodded his head slowly and said, 'Yes, child, I'm afraid we are.'

'So it's Neville, not me?'

'That's right Harry. The prophecy referred to Neville Longbottom.'

'Then I don't have to worry about Old Mouldy-butt anymore?'

Albus chuckled at Harry's choice of words, then replied, 'No Harry, it's all in Neville's hands now.'

'Woohoo!!' yelled Harry as he bounded out of Dumbledore's office.

Albus turned to Fawkes.

'He seems to have taken it rather well, don't you think?'

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'I wonder where Harry is,' said Ron to Hermione.

'Haven't a clue,' she replied, looking concerned. 'I last saw him when he got called to Dumbledore's office. I hope there haven't been any more attacks...'

'Don't worry 'Mione,' said Ron soothingly. 'It's probably nothing. Perhaps he talked with Dumbledore and then just decided to cut class.'

'But the NEWTs are in a month! He can't afford ...' she broke off abruptly.

Ron turned around to see what she had seen and did a quick double take.

Harry was standing at the entrance to the Potions classroom, his robes open in front, revealing a pair of form-fitting leather trousers, and an extremely tight T-shirt, artfully torn in places. His glasses were gone, and his hair stood on end as usual. He was leaning casually against the door frame, smiling roguishly at the gaggle of giggling girls which had gathered around him.

As Hermione continued to goggle at Harry, with a somewhat glazed expression on her face, Ron made his way over to him, through the crowd hanging on to his every word, and dragged him out and over to the back of the room, the girls looking mutinous.

'What happened, Harry? Is it a spell or something?'

In the background Hermione sighed dreamily.

Ron turned around to fix his girlfriend with a glare, and Hermione seemed to come back into her senses.

'Umm, yes, yeah, what happened to you Harry and where did you get these clothes? And what happened to your glasses?'

Harry grinned broadly at Hermione, and leaned in towards her, his eyes alight with mischief. 'Do you like it 'Mione?' he said huskily.

Harry stepped back as Ron belligerently insinuated his presence between his best friend and his girl friend, and Harry shrugged.

'I just transfigured some of my old clothes, and charmed my eyes. A guy's gotta look good, man!'

'Everyone's staring at you!' whispered Hermione.

'Ah, yes, the girls,' said Harry complacently.

'Even some of the guys, Harry!'

'Really?' he replied eagerly.

Ron was about to start screaming at Harry when Severus Snape strode into the classroom and the door banged shut behind him.

The class, which had until then been busy discussing the strange yet sexy attire of the Boy-who-Lived, fell silent immediately, but most of them continued to gaze dreamily at Harry anyway.

Harry took a seat in the very middle of the classroom and occasionally winked and smiled at his various admirers.

'Turn to page five hundred and six,' barked Snape at the seventh years, and was shocked to notice that the dunderheads seemed slower than usual, if that were indeed possible.

He dismissed the thought. It was impossible for this class to get stupider.

'We shall be preparing the Confundus Potion today. No need to be extra careful, not even the Confundus can make this lot any more confunded,' said Snape, looking maliciously at the Gryffindors in the classroom.

He paused for the customary laughter from the Slytherins, but there was none. To Snape's greatest surprise he realized that Malfoy was gazing lustily at Potter, who proceeded to blow a kiss to his 'nemesis'.

'POTTER!!'

Harry turned around in mid-blown-kiss, such that about half of it was directed at the Potions Master.

Snape quickly waved his hands around in front of his face as if trying to prevent the kiss from reaching his face, then stopped, suddenly realizing how stupid he must look.

'Potter!! What in hell's name are you doing?!'

Harry stood slowly and grinned at Snape.

'Why, I believe I just blew you a kiss, sir.'

Snape stared at him, at a loss for words.

Harry's grin broadened.

'Do you like what you see, sir?' he purred.

Snape came out of his reverie.

'Detention, Potter. For one week. Starting tonight,' he growled in his direction, before turning back to the blackboard and charming it to display instructions for the Confundus Potion.

Snape spent the rest of the class looking anywhere but at Harry (unlike the rest of the class, which had resumed their Harry-watching activities) and telling himself how horrid he looked in those se- er, no no, vulgar clothes and how strange those beautif-what is the matter with me? - toad-green eyes were and ...

'Pay some attention you morons!' he screamed.

Harry had dropped his lionfish spleen, and when he had bent to pick it up, three cauldrons had exploded.

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Later that night

Harry knocked on the door to the Potions classroom.

'Enter,' said a silky voice from inside.

Harry entered to find Snape seated at his desk, reading a massive book.

Snape rose and pointed at some cauldrons nearby. 'These need cleaning. No magic. Get started.'

Harry shrugged and got to work. He had had quite enough practice with muggle cleaning. Snape seemed suspicious of his uncharacteristic compliance, but after staring at...umm, no no, carefully observing his work for a while, he returned to his reading.

Harry looked up after finishing the third cauldron and studied Snape, who was too engrossed in his reading to notice the inspection. The book lay open flat on the desk and Snape was paying close attention to it. His mouth was forming the words as he read, and he was rocking back and forth, as a child might while cramming for an upcoming examination.

Harry had been about to smile at the quaint picture the older man presented, when he suddenly discovered the true source of the odour which he had until then attributed to the dirty cauldrons. In synchronization with Snape's rocking motion the greasy hair on his head seemed to be emitting some form of smell-waves, coursing through the air, permeating the atmosphere, surrounding him, suffocating him ... His every movement intensified these olfactory waves, and Harry tried to back away, but the cauldrons blocked him; he waved his arms about in front of his nose, curious mimicking his teacher's actions from earlier in the day.

Must think of something else ... must concentrate ... need air...

Harry willed himself to forget the smell. There must be something he could do to change this ...

He literally felt a bulb being switched on inside his head. Of course ...

He strode up to Snape, who looked up in surprise. Harry flashed his brightest smile and gazed intently at the Potions Master.

'Sir, I have a proposition for you...'

Snape listened with his eyes wide open. Should he...? Should he dare?

He looked into Harry's earnest green eyes, and thought, what the hell...

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Even more later that night.

'Oh this feels so good...' murmured Severus.

'Yes it does doesn't it?' replied Harry.

'I don't know why I didn't do this before... If I had had any idea ...'

'Well, now that you've started, there's no reason to stop ...'

'Can we do this again tomorrow?'

'You could do this every night...'

'Really?'

'You can do this yourself too.'

Severus' eyes widened.

'But how?'

'Just follow the instructions on the bottle I left you. Gotta go now. Bye,' said Harry as he left Severus' private chambers.

Severus was left running his fingers through his newly shampooed hair.

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Fin

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