Disclosure: I do not own any of this, but it was fun to write!

Occlumency Corner

"Legilimens!" Five minutes later an irate professor ended the spell. "Potter! Exactly how long did you spend on the homework I gave you?"

"Homework, sir?"

"To clear your mind each night before bed," growled Snape.

Harry gulped, "20 minutes sir."

"Each night?"

Harry avoided Snape's gaze. "No, sir," he meekly whispered.

"You mean to tell me you've only worked on organizing your thoughts and clearing your mind for a grand total of 20 minutes over the last week!" shouted Snape, "You are supposed to be spending twenty to thirty minutes each night! That way when you come here you can quickly put away the few thoughts you have managed to gather during the day so your mind can be clear of all thoughts when I cast the spell."

'Organizing my thoughts? I don't recall him saying anything about organizing my thoughts,' brooded Harry. He certainly never mentioned 20-30 minutes per night of working on it.

"Tell me Potter, what happens when you fail to turn in homework for Potions?"

"Detention, sir," replied Harry.

"This may not be a regular class, Potter, but it is a class you are taking at this school and when you fail to do your homework for this course you will serve detention. Into the corner. Now."

The corner? The man had to be kidding, he was 15, not 5!

"You failed to do your homework for this course, Potter, and you will spend the next two hours and twenty minutes, the minimum time you should have spent this last week, in the corner organizing your thoughts and clearing your mind. Then we will try this little experiment again, and if you still fail to clear your imbecilic brain you will find yourself back in the corner for an additional 70 minutes. Now move!"

Harry reluctantly turned and shuffled toward the corner, face flushed with anger and embarrassment at the childish punishment. This was almost as bad as detention with Umbrage...well, no, it wasn't. He rather be doing almost anything the detention with Umbrage, even cleaning Aunt Petunia's house. At least there he could feel a bit of a sense of calm come over him as he put things away. His uncle and cousin were slobs, but his aunt always insisted on everything being put in its place. A place for everything and everything in its place. It was Harry's job to see that the stuff got there. Everything had to be perfectly... organized.

That was it! Maybe he could organize his thoughts like he organized Aunt Petunia's house. He just needed a place to put things. Let's see... school. Well that's easy. I just need some books and a bookshelf. Harry imagined a bookshelf and then pictured his transfiguration book. He let thoughts of McGonagall's class flow into his mind and pictured the thoughts being placed on the pages of the book. Then he closed the book and placed it on the shelf. Then he did the same with his other courses.

Except for potions, potions needed something different. The kitchen! Potions were sort of like cooking. Harry imagined a kitchen and placed all of his thoughts about potions in it. As he examined his imaginary kitchen (which looked an awful lot like the one on Privet Drive, but with a few steaming cauldrons on the stove) he noticed the garbage disposal. Harry grinned as he pictured himself throwing Umbrage's blood quills, along with Umbrage and any memories of her down the garbage disposal and turning it on. (Gruesome, I know, but she deserves it.) Finally, Harry left the kitchen and put a great big lock on the door. He hated potions and Umbrage and had no desire to think about either of them.

Meanwhile, Snape sat grading papers and glancing over at the corner now and then. He was surprised the boy hadn't put up more of a fuss. It had been over an hour now and the brat just stood there perfectly still. It bothered Snape that the boy was obeying. Potter never obeyed.

Back in Harry's mind...
Quiditch, what can I do with Quiditch. I'd dearly love to have a Quiditch pitch to imagine playing on, but that wouldn't exactly be away to put those thoughts away. Hey! The miniature toy Quiditch pitch Sirus had bought him for Christmas. It had miniature players and balls that moved like the wizard chess sets moved, going where you told them to, or playing on their own. He imagined the toy pitch and proceeded to direct his recent thoughts about Quiditch towards the model. He started to get caught up in maneuvering the little players, then remembered that if he didn't finish organizing his mind in the allotted time he would end up with his nose back in the corner for an additionally 70 minutes. He had no idea how long had passed yet, but he knew he had no desire to have extra time added. Reluctantly, he imagined a cabinet and placed the toy pitch in it. Out of sight, out of mind...hopefully.

What next? His friends. He liked his friends. They were entertaining and they cheered him up. But sometimes they could be so infuriating. Bicker, bicker, bicker. It seemed like Ron and Hermione were constantly complaining or arguing about something. Sometimes Harry just wanted to be able to hit the mute button or turn them off completely. A TV! He could put them on TV. Harry imagined a TV with a comfy couch in front of it. He spent a few minutes on the couch viewing both good times he had with his friends and the frustrating times when they hassled him or argued with each other. Then he flipped the TV off. Blessed peace.

What else has been bugging me, pondered Harry. All those news articles that were constantly lying about him. Well that's easy enough to resolve. A paper shredder appeared in Harry's mind and he spent a few minutes gleefully destroying all the articles he could recall reading or hearing about.

Snape's point of view:
What was the boy grinning about? He was in the corner! He had no reason to grin.

Back in Harry's mind...
Nightmares. Could they really be called nightmares? Sure he dreamed about them, but they were the monsters from his real life. Acromantula, dragons, Basilisk, red-eyed snake men, sociopaths in mask, and dementors. Where could you find monsters in a normal suburban house? The game system! Dudley was forever killing monsters on his computer game systems. Harry conjured up a game system. Then spent several minutes destroying his enemies with swords and guns. This was video game fighting after all, not magical fighting. He shut the system off, and along with it shut out his memories of those events.

His house was looking pretty nice. Then he heard his Aunt screeching. Great. What do I do with the Dursley's? Petunia's shrill voice reminded him of Mrs. Black's portrait at Grimauld Place. Harry promptly placed his "family" members into portraits on the wall. Then just as promptly turned the portraits to face the wall and placed silencing charms on them.

Harry walked over to the stereo that had manifested and flipped it on. He had a secret love for music. You could lose yourself to its moods and the emotions it evoked. Harry allowed himself to become lost in the music, as his body hummed and swayed to the tune.

Now the boy was humming and swaying! Time to put a stop to this decided Snape. "Time's up Mr. Potter," came a low deep voice from across the room.

Harry exited the corner and came to stand before Snape's desk.

"Legilimens." Snape found himself in a living room with no one in sight, not even Potter. There was a comfy looking couch, a TV, a game system, a bookshelf, a cabinet with a wood door and for some inexplicable reason, a paper shredder. Music drifted from a stereo by the sidewall. At the back of the room was a door with an absurdly large lock on it. Severus attempted to unlock the door, but it wouldn't budge. He turned away from the door and noticed three portraits facing towards the wall. He went and peeked around one and found a silently blustering Vernon.

Snape ended the spell. "Find a different place for your relatives Potter. Turned picture frames will draw questions and you don't want the Dark Lord questioning what is in your brain."

"Yes, sir," agreed Harry.

"20 minutes each night Potter, or you will find your nose back in that corner. I'm sure we both have places we rather be. You may go."

Potter felt like running and jumping and screaming in excitement once he exited the room, but managed to restrain himself... at least until he was out of earshot of Snape. He was finally succeeding at Occlumency!

This is my first story. I'd love to know what you thought and which parts were your favorite!