Snape was sure that the boy was trying to trick him.

A while ago, he wouldn't have even thought Potter was capable of such a thing, but the past few weeks have taught him that... as much as he had convinced himself, he hadn't actually known anything about Harry Potter.

And it was good that he went into this 'counselling' business, that he had been forced into, unbiased. Otherwise, as much as he hated to admit it, Potter would have been able to manipulate him.

Potter had apparently decided that the best revenge he could exact against him for saving his life was to act like his father. Or how he thought Snape believed James Potter to behave.

And that was the main reason why Snape saw right through it: Potter trying to act like James Potter didn't work, because Potter had no idea how to.

Because Potter had never even known him.

It was ironic really, that Potter didn't even have it in him to act like the person Snape had always thought him to be.

Ironic and very eye-opening.

Other than that - though Snape would never admit it out loud - Potter was good at acting different. He did it subtly, making some arrogant comments that wouldn't even seem arrogant unless you read between the lines.

Then he sometimes talked about how tired he was of schoolwork and that he shouldn't have to do it. Furthermore, he pretended to lose at most games without making it apparent that he lost them on purpose.

And when he lost, he threw the tantrums of a spoiled brat, but without exaggerating too much and not seeming out of character at all to what Snape had previously thought about him.

Potter pretended to be all the things Snape had insulted him about over the years: lazy, arrogant, mediocre, ignorant and spoiled.

Snape had never thought Potter even had an ounce of cunning in him, but it seemed that he was proven wrong yet again.

He, of course, pretended not to know that it was all an act; pretended to get annoyed and angry.

Which was also how he got definite proof that it was all an act.

Potter just couldn't hide that triumphant and relieved look in his eyes whenever he acted like he used to.

To anyone else, it would have been sad to see someone trying so hard to be hated again, because they were so used to it that it was easier to deal with than kindness.

But Snape accepted Potter's challenge and was determined to expose him when the boy least accepted it.

It was their 4th meeting now and the end of the second game of chess Potter had lost today.

"Ughhh..." The boy said, leaning back in his chair. "I'm bored." He drawled.

Then he gestured at the chess board. "All these games are getting really boring since we play them over and over again."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Snape asked through gritted teeth. Internally, he was very interested in what way Potter had planned to annoy him now.

Potter would probably be very disappointed if he knew that his attempts to rile him up were more entertaining and amusing than anything.

"Well, it's obvious isn't it?" He lay back in his chair even more, looking pointedly around the room.

When he didn't elaborate, Snape cut through the silence, "Not everyone's mind works in such a simple way as yours, Potter. So, please tell me about your genius plan." He mocked.

Potter was pouting, but said, "Well, I thought we could do potions.

Since you are a potions teacher and there's all the necessary potions equipment in this room and your storage, it would be the most logical way to spend time. sir." He added the last word as an afterthought.

So... Potter now thought the best way to annoy him was to blow up his office? Snape had thought him to be more... original than that.

He leaned over his desk and spoke in a deadly whisper, "The only reason I didn't consider this, was because I feared for the state of my office or the entire school, should I allow you to get your hands on potions ingredients and a cauldron."

Potter seemed unperturbed by this, obviously expecting the response.

"Let's make a deal." He proposed. "I get to brew one fifth year potion of your choosing and if I brew it perfectly we will switch to potion-brewing from now on. If I fail, you are allowed to go back on your promise not to punish me during these sessions."

Did Potter want to be punished now? Was this his way of self-sabotage? However much Snape hadn't known Potter, he was sure that his potion- brewing skills couldn't be good enough to win this challenge.

"Only you can be arrogant enough to actually believe you could win this challenge." He sneered.

Potter grinned impertinently. "Are you in then?"

Snape inclined his head. Potter rightfully interpreted this as an affirmation and let out a 'whoop' sound.

Really, Potter was overdoing his acted cheerfulness today.

"You will be doing the simple hair-raising potion." He drawled as if he was in class. "And you are required to test it once it's done. Though with your hair, it won't make much of a difference even if it's brewn correctly."

Snape smirked when he saw Potter flush a bit at that while trying to flatten his hair. He loved bringing Potter out of his act.

Potter worked concentratedly on his potion, despite Snape breathing down his neck and occasionally insulting him at the beginning.

But, as it had become usual, Potter didn't react at all.

When he wasn't hiding behind his act, Potter still had an abnormally high level of control over his emotions that he had never exhibited in all those years Snape had had him in class.

Granted, he hadn't known much about Potter, but until this year, he had seemed like a very emotional person. Which was, for once, not only his opinion, but a fact all the other people in Potter's life agreed on. Of course, they had always thought it was something that made Potter even more endearing, while Snape had put it off as a weakness.

Now, he thought that Potter's emotionlessness might be a symptom of something graver, something that had probably started with Umbridge's detentions.

"I'm done, sir." Potter interrupted his thoughts. The boy was standing in front of his desk with a vial in his hands.

He hadn't paid much attention to what the boy was doing since he realised that riling him up didn't work anyway.

Luckily, Potter wasn't stupid enough to actually blow up his office just to get him to hate him.

Snape accepted the vial that was being handed to him and examined it. He was surprised to find that it looked exactly the shade of green that it was supposed to look.

So, Potter could focus on instructions and the exact art of potion-brewing if he wanted to. The boy never ceased to disprove all his preconceived notions concerning him.

"Drink it." He held out his hand with the vial. Potter took it and downed it without question. His hair instantly started to rise and stood up making the boy look ridiculous.

Snape was contemplating how he should proceed now. How did the boy expect him to react?

Potter's sole purpose so far during counselling had been to annoy and anger him.

Did he perhaps think that now that Snape was used to Potter being exactly what he had expected, it would be more annoying for him to be good at something Snape had never expected him to be good at?

That was probably it.

Potter wanted to get Snape to hate him as much as possible. He had never expected or wanted him to stick with the deal. He wanted to make him angry.

Well, now it was finally time to throw Potter off balance, to take revenge for all the times the boy had tried to do exactly that.

"It seems like we will be brewing potions from now on." He said blankly.

Potter looked predictably startled by his response.

He smiled maliciously, "Why, Potter...

Did you not expect me to hold up my end of the bargain?"

"No, it's just-"

"-that you wanted to annoy me as much as possible." The boy's mouth dropped open. Snape loved that baffled expression on his face. "You wanted to get me to hate you again.

Well, I apologise for disappointing you but your little act achieved the opposite." Now it was his turn to feel triumphant at Potter's absolute astonishment. "If you hadn't underestimated me, you would've known that I would see right through you. I have to admit though that your act has impressed me and instead of causing further dislike towards you, it made me realise that there is actually a brain in that head of yours and that you are not quite as Gryffindor as you would like others to believe you to be." Potter sank into the chair across from him, as if the weight of what he was telling him was draining him too much to be able to stand upright. Anyone else would have been delighted to be complimented by the potions master. Leave it to Potter to be the exception to every rule. "Your little act has also revealed quite a bit about your emotional issues. It showed that you prefer to be hated rather than liked, because it is what you're used to."

"Maybe I just didn't want everything to change." Potter grumbled with his arms crossed.

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Who would go to such lengths just to get someone to hate them? It is a form of self-sabotage."

"No, it's not!" Potter said indignantly. "Stop treating me like some poem that you can interpret to your liking!"

Snape merely stared at Potter calmly. "Does that mean that I am wrong in believing that this was mostly an act of revenge against me for saving your life?"

This seemed to put Potter off again. The boy took a deep breath, moved his hands around to grab something under the table and said in a calm and calculated voice, "No and yes."

"Care to elaborate?"

"I did want to make you angry, but not for saving my life but for making this whole Umbridge thing such a big deal. Now, the whole world thinks I'm even more attention seeking than before or even feels sorry for me and it's because of what you did, sir." Even though what he said wasn't polite at all, his voice was filled with utmost respect.

"So, you'd rather continue to have those detentions where your skin is repeatedly cut open?"

For a moment it looked as though Potter would say yes, but in the end he just shook his head. Snape filed that away for later consideration.

"Then, why, pray tell, are you angry at me? It seems to me that your anger, in this case, is completely undeserved."

"Well, it's not like you yourself acted normal after everything came out." The boy said under his breath.

"This leads to the assumption that the reason for your anger is indeed my change in behaviour." He concluded. "Which means that I was right."

Potter let out a mirthless laugh. "You like twisting my words just so that you can be right."

Then he went on in a defeated voice, "I just don't want you to treat me differently just because of... what you found out. I don't want your pity." He looked down at his lap in embarrassment.

"Look at me, Potter." Snape commanded. Potter seemed to obey automatically.

"Do I look pitying to you?"

"Well, no but-"

"I can assure you that I don't and will never pity you." He announced firmly. "The reason why my behaviour changed is indeed because the results of the charm forced me to overthink my opinion of you. But those were merely the trigger point for my change of behaviour. They made me observe you more closely and realise what the things you do truly mean. They were an eye-opener, if you will."

Potter was looking at him closely, trying to determine if he had been serious. After he found his answer, he seemed to be speechless for a while until he said in a small voice, "Thank you for explaining, sir."

Snape just inclined his head to show that he understood. Then the boy added after taking a deep breath, "And I'm sorry for the way I treated you in these meetings. It's not your fault that Dumbledore forced you to do them."

"Apology accepted." He said neutrally. "Though I have to admit that your attempts at being your father were quite amusing."

They boy looked at him with a mixture of embarrassment and incredulousness.

"It is quite late now." He looked pointedly at the watch on the wall. "I believe this meeting has come to a close." Potter got up and went for the door quickly. He was apparently very flustered about it all. Flustered enough to leave with his hair still raised in the air.

"And Potter?" He called out just before he could leave. "Don't forget to bring your own potion-making kit next week. I can't have you destroy some of my own." Potter turned around to stare at him in shock. "You won your deal, Potter. Now leave before it'll be my fault that the precious boy-who-lived doesn't get his sleep." With that, he turned back to the essays he had yet to mark. A few moments later he could hear the door fall closed after Potter.

A malicious smile was tugging at his lips; he loved throwing Potter off balance. This 'counselling' had turned out to be more interesting than he had ever expected it to be.