#snape got a haircut to cut everything that reminds him of his past | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gold-from-straw · 6 years

Text

Stop me in Hours of Darkness

I maybe made a thing and wrote a thing...

Stop Me in Hours of Darkness is a Harry/Credence story about supporting the people you love, and escaping horrible situations. It’s set in a non-magic AU, where Harry (rescued a couple of years ago from St Brutus’ and the Dursleys’ by Sirius) meets Credence, a recent transfer to Hogwarts Secondary School, and falls in love. But it soon becomes clear that things are bad for Credence at home, and Harry’s protective instincts blaze to life - but what can a couple of teenagers do against the world?

Chapter 1

Harry kept his head down as class began, anything to avoid another parents’ meeting. He’d hoped Mr Snape would be less of an arsehole in year eleven, but no such luck. It was like he took pleasure in winding Uncle Sirius up.

Mind you, Sirius wasn’t much better.

He flicked back in the textbook while Ron was busy sneaking a look at his phone under the desk. He’d seen the answer here somewhere…

The door opened with a creak. Ron jumped, and shoved his phone between his legs out of sight. The head walked in, dopey smile on his face as usual. “Morning, Severus. Do you mind if I address your class?”

Mr Snape made a gesture and tried to look like he hadn’t been watching YouTube videos while the class worked.

“Year eleven, thank you for your attention. This is Credence Barebone, he has just moved here from New York. I know you will all be very welcoming to him.”

Poor Credence Barebone. Imagine being saddled with that kind of name. Harry leaned his chin on his hand and tilted his head a little to see the boy slouched behind Mr D. His shoulders were practically up around his ears, obviously hating the big introduction. He remembered his own grand entry in the middle of year nine. It had seemed like a special kind of torture to him, too.

“Now,” continued Dumbledore. “Harry Potter, as the most recent transfer yourself, I wonder if I might impose upon you to show Credence the ropes?”

“You might, sir,” replied Harry cheekily. You could get away with it with old Dumbledore.

“Splendid! In that case, if Ronald would take the empty seat next to Pansy, you could perhaps catch Credence up on his chemistry.” He nodded to Snape, and swept out.

Ron groaned as he gathered his stuff.

“Sorry, mate,” said Harry.

“Not your fault, is it? Hopefully Bitchy Parkinson will keep her claws to herself this time.”

Credence sat in Ron’s seat and instantly shrank into his shoulders. “Hi,” said Harry softly. “I’m Harry.”

He glanced up out of big brown eyes and flickered the slightest of smiles. Harry felt something ignite in his chest, and he bit his lip, looking down at his work. “Uh… chemistry… I don’t really know how to do this. Were you doing GCSEs before?”

“No,” said Credence, and if possible his head drooped even lower.

“Well, that’s OK,” he said hurriedly. “Uh… maybe we could go through—“

“Harry Potter, do you think you could find it within you to shut up? You’re disturbing the rest of the class.”

“But sir, that’s not fair, Mr D said he had to help Credence,” called Ron, his cheeks already flushing pink with indignation. The rest of the class nodded, and the noise levels rose like a train in a tunnel.

Snape rolled his eyes. “Then you can go and play catch-up in the library. But don’t think you’re getting out of your homework tonight. If I find any of your work missing when I collect your book tomorrow I’ll be putting you in detention. The first of many, I can only imagine,” he sneered.

Harry ignored him easily and beckoned to Credence with a jerk of his head, leading him out of the science block and across the playground.

“I’m so sorry,” said Credence, almost in a whisper. “I never meant to get you into trouble.”

Harry shook his head. “Nah, Snape’s just an arse. He needs to get a life.”

Credence relaxed fractionally and graced Harry with another tiny smile. He glanced at Credence out of the corner of his eye, sizing him up as they walked in silence.

He was a bit taller than Harry, even with the terrible posture. Not that that was hard. His trousers were too short, his blazer too small, and his shirt was grey and shapeless. He wasn’t wearing a jumper, and Harry saw his nail beds were tinged blue in the early autumn cold snap. His hair had been sheared into an uneven bowl cut.

Harry found himself touching his own hair. He shook his head. He didn’t know enough about Credence to make judgements about his home life. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t keep an eye on him. Mr D had asked him to, after all.

He looked at him properly as he held the door for him. That was not going to be a hardship. Credence had a strange, vulnerable beauty under the ill-fitting clothes and the bad haircut, and Harry had known he was queer ever since he got a crush on both Cho and Cedric in the same term. Sirius had sat him down and explained sexuality to him, and suddenly everything made sense.

“OK,” he said, opening his science book to the contents page. “This is everything we’ve done so far.” He ran his finger along the first two thirds of the book. “If we can get Miss Pince to copy this page you can tick off the things you’ve done and you’ll know what you need to focus on.”

Credence stared at the page, biting his lip.

“Does that sound OK?”

To Harry’s horror, Credence’s lip wobbled. “I… I don’t think I know any of these things.”

“Oh… oh, hey, well, you know… I bet it’s just 'cause you’re stressed out, and it’s a lot… I’m sure when you look at it more calmly you’ll see you actually know loads.” He patted Credence’s shoulder, and he gasped slightly, tensing up. Harry pulled back. “You’ll see.”

“I’m sorry,” whispered Credence, wiping his eyes hard.

“Don’t be,” he said firmly. “It’s a lot. School sucks.”

Credence laughed slightly and smiled up at him. “It’s OK so far.”

***

Credence was in his tutor group too, and after lunch, Ron discovered he’d be catching his bus back to Hogsmeade. “Excellent,” he clapped. “Which street do you live on?”

“Harlem Row.”

“Ha! Mate, that’s so close. I’m on Ottery Street, that’s like the next one over. Hey, there were some moving vans out this weekend, that wasn’t you, was it?”

Credence shrugged. “I don’t know? Maybe.”

“Have you got a garden with only lawn in it? And has your mum got short brown hair?”

Credence nodded, and Ron laughed loudly enough for Mrs Trelawney to make a disapproving noise in his direction. He ignored him. “That’s literally next door to me! Our gardens back onto each other, can you believe that?” he grinned and, thumped Credence on the back. Credence flinched, his neck tensing, his jaw almost vibrating it was clenched so hard.

“Hey, move up, you two,” Harry said quickly, squeezing between him and Ron. “Look at this, Gareth Bale’s bicycle kick from last season.”

“How many times have you showed me this?” laughed Ron, but he leaned his arm on Harry’s shoulder, and Credence seemed to sag in relief.

Hermione and Harry both lived in Godric’s Hollow itself, and always waited in the passageway between the music block and the assembly hall for the Hogsmeade bus, so it was good that Ron had company as well now.

And it shouldn’t really have surprised Harry how soon Ron started to notice something was off with Credence.

“He reminds me of you a bit,” Ron said. They were both cross legged on Harry’s sofa playing Black Ops. Sirius was a lot less concerned with age restrictions than Mrs Weasley.

“What do you mean?” asked Harry.

“You know… when you first started in year nine. He’s got that same… skinny, wide-eyed look. Like a rabbit that knows there’s a fox about.”

Harry considered pushing him off the sofa for the metaphor, but he thought about Credence, his head bowed low over his work, paused on a question he didn’t understand and almost hyperventilating as the teacher came closer. Or the time Neville had squeezed past him in the cramped English room and Credence had squeaked like his back hurt.

He remembered two and a half hateful, painful years at St Brutus’, eleven years before that at the Dursley’s. Dark cupboards and backhanded slaps and burn marks when he didn't do the cooking right, and the protective fire he’d been holding at bay in his chest burst to life.

Nobody should live like that. Two years with Sirius and Mrs Weasley had taught him that he hadn’t deserved any of it, so certainly Credence didn’t. With his honey brown eyes and his gentle smile and his awed face when Aberforth’s goats got into the school field and nudged him in the ribs for affection.

He paused the game. “What are we going to do about it?”

Ron stayed staring at the unmoving screen. “I dunno, mate.”

Link to AO3 - chapter 2

#my writing #Stop me in Hours of Darkness #harry/credence #welcome to my teeny tiny ship!#high school au #harry potter #credence barebone #child abuse #mary lou barebone #protective harry #credence needs a hug #hurt/comfort

5 notes · View notes