Summary: Harry and Severus Snape are still fighting like cats and dogs. Detention is still a common event but maybe this time they can wash away their differences and finally have some (ahem) fun together. [;

Disclaimer: HP is not mine but I still love it!

Warning: Slash - Rated M for now

Cleansing
By: Ravenclaw Samurai

Chapter 1: Prepare for Detention

Severus Snape was focused on the task at hand. Well, slightly focused. His mind kept returning to a certain black-haired green-eyed student, who had again fought with him earlier that afternoon. Recalling the events, he was almost ashamed to say that for no apparent reason he had acted like a complete and total prat.

"Potter! What are you doing?" Snape's voice bellowed into the classroom. Every student felt their back snap straight up, eyes bulge wide open, and mouth snap shut. However, the Potions Master was oblivious to the rousing affect he had over the classroom only concerned with the reaction of one male student.

"Sir?" The young man in question looked up with a startled look on his face.

"Unlike your fellow classmates, who are surprisingly all busy with their potions, you are the only one idling around and talking to our resident disaster." A nod was thrown in direction of Neville Longbottom, who was turning an unhealthy shade of red. "Is there something important you have to say to him that demanded his attention this very moment? A moment, I might add, that would be better spent used to concentrate in preventing another botched potion." The few spattering of anxious chatter in the background stopped.

"I was just helping him, Professor," said Harry, his brow wrinkling and his lips firm in a straight line.

"You, brat, don't even have the skills or experience to help him stir."

"Snape-"

"Mr. Potter, when I say that each student will work alone then that means, each student is solely responsible for his or her potion. There are no partners today. And since you, being one of the lowest marked students here and barely above Mr. Longbottom himself, how could you possibly even consider that you're help would benefit him."

Snape frowned at the recollection. Potter was only helping Longbottom, and Merlin knew that idiot boy needed all the help he could get. Still, remembering how the two young wizards had their heads bent close together, their shoulders touching, and their mouths whispering to each other, Severus had to act. They were being impudent, especially Potter. Again Snape frowned. Looking back on it he didn't have to include those personal comments, but then Potter, as always, reacted with his usual Gryffindor arrogance and commented that his poor performance reflected on Severus' teaching skills or lack there of. And since almost everyone was failing potions maybe he should follow his own advice and seek someone of higher skill, like Hagrid, who to many in Hogwarts is considered an excellent Professor.

Hagrid! Scoffed Snape. As if protecting the students wasn't difficult enough, that half oaf brought more students to the infirmary with various bites, scratches, and other questionable injuries than an entire year worth of Quidditch games.

The sheer audacity!

Potter. Sneered Snape. The name had a bitter taste to it.

It always boiled down to the insufferable brat in the end. Potter needed to be disciplined. He needed to be brought down low and shown that a man like Severus was worth a hundred, no a thousand Longbottoms or Hagrids. Potter should respect him, admire him, and be thankful that he was there to teach and guide his pathetic self. The boy should be groveling at his feet, gratifying him, satisfying his - Severus stopped. His thoughts of late seemed to wander from him, always slipping in images of a certain young wizard with green eyes and skin so. . . Again, without even realizing it, he was envisioning the Chosen One, the Saviour of the entire Wizarding World as something . . . no, he needed to stop. Severus rubbed the bridge of his nose. Potter, although annoying, was still a very respected, very powerful young wizard. Harry Potter was no longer the small naive boy who knew nothing of magic, but now the Wizard-Who-Defeated-Voldemort. Dumbledore was right when he had told Severus about letting go of his petty grudges against the heroic-bent Gryffindor. They had fought side by side during the Final Battle, guarding each other's back, and not only survived but won. Severus knew his actions and thoughts weren't reasonable or understandable. Still, there was something about Potter that always made him, for lack of a better word, disgruntled.

Relax, he thought. Relax.

Snape concentrated his thoughts to the task at hand, which was cleaning his new acquired vials before Potter arrived for his detention. He had found these vials by chance at an Apothecary that just opened in Diagon Alley. A new shipment had arrived from Japan and Snape was so surprised at the simple ingenuity of the product that he had decided to buy a full case right then and there. As he prepared his newest collection of tools for his Potions research, Severus couldn't help but feel less agitated, despite being irritated at himself and especially at the brat. Cleaning, the actual act of scrubbing, rinsing, and washing, became an outlet for him. An easy enough task that allowed him to break away from the demanding duties usually pushed upon him or expected from him. The incomplex idea of physical labor that ended up with clean and neat results was very satisfying.

Slowly breathing in and out, the smell of the soap filled Snape's lungs and mixed with his breath. It was his own personal concoction - lemon ginger soap. A light scent that lingered and teased. He breathed in again, his dark eyes slightly closing, and with a relaxed sigh, smiled.

to be continued. . . Chapter 2: First Half of Detention

Author's Note: This is my first fic and it's a short story. I actually posted this up on Aarin but decided to branch out and add onto it here. Although this chapter isn't long I'll make the second one more. . . um. . . involved. Please enjoy! Reviews are welcome. [;