Harry Potter and the Mirrored Veil

By: D.A Cirle

Disclaimer/Etc's: Look at chapter one.

CHAPTER TWO-

In a week's time things will change more than you can imagine, Part I

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Day Two- Morning

He could feel the eyes of people on him, much more than usual. Even more than when he became impromptu Headmaster, under Voldemort's orders of course. Yeah, right. The eyes scalded, they burned, and he could feel his lungs constricting, trying to get more air than they could. He turns to Harry and tries to convey what he was feeling, without speaking; he couldn't speak at that moment.

Harry's brows furrow in a look of concern. (Towards him, even. He was still unsure of what to make of that, or of these new things that he didn't want to think of…) He leans in towards him, and barely glances at Weasley or Granger.

It was breakfast time, and the Great Hall was unusually filled to the brim with student, teacher, and people alike. But, it wasn't just because of the recent battle with Voldemort and the Death Eaters, Severus knew that people were all there. No, he knew that it was because of him, and because of Harry. It seemed surprisingly easy to call him that, and now that he was, (and could); he didn't want to go back. What they were moving forward to, he couldn't guess. But, he could at least be along for the ride of it all.

He was alive! And he knew that he had been dead, the pain alone from those piercing fangs, the blood that went everywhere except for in him, the fading light, and seeing Harry as the last person he ever saw. He looked into those eyes, Lily's eyes, but seen Harry in them, not her.

And Harry had been the very first person he had seen coming back. Back…How had he come back? When no one else had been ever been able to, when it had never been successful before. And why him? Of all the people's in the world, Muggle and Wizarding alike. He was now the other half to Harry's really…in the Magical sense, of course. Harry was the only person to survive Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse. And he, Severus Snape, was the only person to come back from the dead.

His impressions of the afterlife were vague at best. He could remember shapes, and voices of people. And he could have sworn that he heard Lily speaking to that mutt Black. He headed towards that voice! It was her voice! But, as soon as he got near, they were gone, and he was alone, all alone. It was a familiar but hurtful thing that he had been through for so long now, that he wore it like a second skin.

When he gets up to their spot, Lily and Black disappear. And he sees Harry—Potter. He was still Potter at that time to him, not so very long ago. He knew it was Harry, he knew it in himself very completely. He could see the scar that marred the boy's forehead, the green eyes that he gained from Lily. And it was something besides the superficial things that he noticed. He could feel the magic emanating from the boy-man, and Harry reaches a hand out towards him. He stares at it for a long moment, but feels no ill intent and he didn't want to be alone…When their hands touch everything goes from blurry white, to complete blackness. Then comes the searing pain. He knew the pain in his neck once more, but blood did not flow this time, and when he looks up he sees…he sees…

He couldn't remember, and it seemed like a very important thing to remember too. He had to see if he could pull it out of his Pensieve again. Last night, when Potter went to the loo resulted in nothing but frustration, and confusion, as he couldn't get his own memory out and into the damned thing. What the thing was for to begin with!

He did remember awakening suddenly, as if the time in between (the renewed pain and the blankness) had been nothing. The Shrieking Shack was as dull, and ripped up as ever. There was evidence from where the Dark Lord, and where that damned snake had been. He shakily stands, his mind still reeling at that time, unable to process the information of what had happened, not really. He had thought at that time, that he had just lost quite a bit of blood, and must get to the Hospital Wing immediately. His mind had been jumbled, forgetting that he had to take flight from the castle as his colleagues still thought him nothing but a double crossing murderer who wanted to harm them and others, Harry especially. This was far from truth.

He takes stumbling steps forward, trying to regain his bearing. He just barely keeps himself from tripping over a heavily scratched little drawer. The smell inside was musky, and filled with a stench that seemed to come from elsewhere. It smelled of evil, if such a thing could really have a smell. Lord Voldemort's smell. While he never associated a real smell with the Dark Lord, this had the definite feel of him. The pain he would feel shoot up his body whenever he looked at the man, or was called by the man. But, he never gave him the satisfaction of seeing him be afraid. At least during these later times.

He finally manages to get out of the Shack, but feels his equilibrium shifting. He couldn't keep his balance. The streets of Hogsmeade were empty; no noise was coming from the village, as if everyone had disappeared over night. (He now knew that the residents that had survived, which were a small few, were in Hogwarts.) He takes a faltering step

forward, feeling the click of his heel as if magnified a hundred times, things were going black again. And he was falling.

He happens to look up as he falls and…cannot see the person/thing there! It was another blur like before. It felt like the same one from before. This time when he awakens, he finds himself lying on the Hogwarts grounds, directly in front of the front steps. He pulls himself up to a sitting position, cursing the overly bright Sun as it beamed down its rays. After a few moments, and a deep breath, he finds himself standing. The dizzy feeling had left, and he felt like his balance was fine again. He takes a few steps forward; he falters, and stops when he hears a couple of students. They were heading towards the other way, going further down the grounds, not near him and the entrance. He could still make out what they were saying;

"We'll have to hurry and get these things from Hagrid's hut; we can't miss seeing Harry Potter!"

"I know! We'll hurry! We can't miss the Savior of the Wizarding World! He saved us all from You-Know-Who!"

They take a few more steps forward, and he stood still, taking in all what they were saying.

"Yeah! But, y'know what I heard? I heard that Snape was on our side all along!"

"What! No way! He killed Dumbledore! Who said something like that?"

"Harry Potter did! I heard him talking to a whole bunch of the teachers, and some of the students were there. I wanted to stand and listen, but I was getting pushed forward—"

He couldn't hear anymore, and he didn't have to. That alone was enough to put him into shock. He manages to go up a few of the steps before his knees buckle, and he is forced to sit down. He would wait until he was strong enough to stand, and then he would…

What would he do? Go? Say?

"A big fuss as always around you isn't there?" he says to himself aloud, quietly.

He could see Harry still looking at him, waiting for him to come back down to reality, apparently. He licks his suddenly dry lips.

"Let's get out of here." He says to the boy-who-lived.

Harry looks at him, and nods. They get up.

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The walk down to the dungeons was a quiet one, and Severus was grateful that Harry didn't say anything, knew that he needed the silence for the moment. When they had gotten up from the table in the Great Hall there was a stir, and people started to murmur amongst themselves. Harry had leaned over to Granger and Weasley and whispered something to them. They glanced at him, and then nodded. Simultaneously. He didn't know how Harry dealt with that. He also ignored the blatant stares and whispers from the other people in the Hall. They, he and Harry, take the back door behind the Staff table and walk out. He, along with Granger, Weasley, as well as the other teachers were sitting at the table.

He seen Harry deal with the stares of his peers, and do it with a less nervous air than before. He was getting more used to it now, not to say that he was reveling in it, because Severus knew that wasn't true. The Harry Potter that he had thought of before—before he died, before he was forced to have those talks with Albus shortly before his death—was completely different from the one that he thought he knew. He didn't know him at all. At least until now. He was seeing the side of Harry that not many people got to truly see. He knew that immediately, and he knew that Harry was surprised about the things that he was learning about him, Severus Snape.

He was letting Harry see through those walls that he had so carefully constructed for the general public and nearly everyone else as well. It was a front that he had honed from years of spying, having to do so to protect his own life as well as others, Harry included. His life had been an unhappy one from a young age. His father would never be father of the year, and he had gotten accustomed to Tobias Snape giving him a beating when he (his father) felt like he deserved it.

Tobias was not very fond of Magic, magical folks really. He was jealous of them, being able to do magic, and he couldn't. So he took it out on those closest to him, and while his mother was a witch, her powers seemed to drain out when Tobias was his meanest. His temper was quick, and always at the surface. That wasn't to say that the man was always that way, though he was that way a good majority of the time, he also could be—on occasion—nice to his wife and child. And Severus had vague memories of infrequent trips to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner, or to Diagon Alley.

His mother, Eileen, was an accomplished potions Master, and witch (even if she couldn't use her powers in those brutal moments), and she taught Severus about a lot of things when he was younger, and got his interests in Potions, as well as the Dark Arts. She always told him that they were not something to fear, and just because some of them were dark in nature, didn't necessarily mean that they were evil. In fact, she said, it was the wizard behind the spell that made a spell truly good or evil. Magic was neutral, until it was introduced to other sources.

By the time he went to Hogwarts, he already knew a plethora of magic, Dark and white alike. He was also a most skilled Potioneer, as well as a fair Legilimens. He becomes a thousand times better by his third year, and it was a skill that aided him more times than he cared to remember in the upcoming years…

Harry suddenly comes to a stop, and Severus stops as well. Blinking for a moment, he raises a brow at Harry, wondering what the suddenness of the stop was. Harry points forward, and Severus turns his head to see his quarters directly in front of them. They were already through the dungeons. He didn't think that it went that quickly. He didn't realize that he had been in reverie that long.

He takes out his wand, and waves it in circles that, at first glance, seemed to have no pattern at all. They did in fact have one, but it wouldn't be easily guessed, because he had thousands of variations that he memorized, and alternated them every so often. That and the fact that he was muttering certain very complex Latin spells to de-ward his rooms, made him feel a feeling of ease that he didn't often feel. He didn't also place the extra ease as the cause of the young man standing adjacent to him, he ignored that completely.

It was a confusing manner, especially as such a big matter as death, and finally able to start to place Lily in a different way. It wasn't very much, and he still loved her very much. She had been the reason to begin with that he did what he did, and for so long. It wasn't until much later that he actually did it for Harry himself. He didn't think Harry knew that either. But, he wasn't able to actually say that yet. His only companion as of late was Harry, and he wasn't exactly unhappy with that either…

He finally finishes the intricate incantations on the doors, and feels the dissipation of the magic surrounding his quarters. He flicks open the door with his wand, then turns to Harry.

"After you, Potter." He says. Harry raises a brow. He smirks at him, feeling the familiar feeling envelop him as he does so. "What? Scared to let me go last? I am surprised and shocked that you don't trust me, Harry." He could feel stillness as soon as he says that, and wonders why he said that. The boy-man didn't exactly have the motive, or reason to trust him completely. Harry knew that he had always been Albus Dumbledore's man, and all the things that he went through to protect Lily's son, and later, to protect Harry, but other than that, he really didn't have a reason to trust him, although the Dumbledore thing might just be enough for Harry to trust him…maybe.

Harry takes a step forward, towards the open door, and turns to look at Snape.

"I do trust you." He tells him quietly, causing the other man to feel shock course through his body quite easily. "You've done so much for me, and not even just that; but for the Wizarding and Muggle world in general. I…don't know how I can repay something like that.—and just know that I would never have told you this over a year ago! Hell, I would never have told you anytime! Things…have changed a lot over the course of a year haven't they?"

Severus nods slightly, his hair whipping around his sallow face. "It has. Much more than I can say. I hope you know that."

Harry nods in return. "I do know, Severus." Both of them seemed very surprised about that. A second or two passes and Harry walks inside.

"You do, don't you, Harry?" he says quietly, to himself. "You see rather well through these walls, just like she did. How much are you two alike that I did not see?"

He walks through the door, and felt another moment come and go, and a feeling that something big was going to happen soon. What, he wasn't sure, but he knew that it would be something very interesting, and would shape the way of things to come.

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A/N: This A/N is after I read my reviews, and seen just how many people are on Story Alert waiting for this, which is astounding! Also, if you notice, the POV has changed in this chapter, and I hope you see the pattern up ahead. I didn't plan for it to come out this way, but I am very happy with it. Stay tuned for Chapter Three, which is already done, and which I am just working on further chapters to keep myself ahead. (I am already finishing up Chapter Six, which is a defining chapter, and I had always planned it to be…just not exactly like it's coming out, though I'm super happy with it.)