~Several Days Later~

The days had gone by rather quickly for Harry. He easily slipped into his school time routine on the first day of school.

Get up.

Wash, brush teeth, and use the loo.

Eat breakfast with Xeno, get interrupted by the twins.

Go to first class.

Go to next class.

Break.

Have lunch with Xeno and the twins, try avoiding the Marauders and their newest prank.

Go to class.

Go to last class.

Homework in the RoR.

Dinner.

Hang out or finish homework.

Go to bed.

Today Harry had Potions, Herbology, Ancient Runes and Charms. It wasn't a busy day for him, but for some unknown reason, Harry was reluctant to get out of bed that morning. Xeno had to literally pull him out of bed.

As it turned out, he had nothing to worry about. His day was incredibly boring. In Potions class Slughorn made them finish their healing balms before they could begin their newest projects, Soul Bonding potions. Herbology was peaceful, as always, and the last two classes went by in a flash.

The excitement didn't begin until dinner.

~Double Potions, Slytherin and Gryffindor~

"Alright students, today we are going to begin our Soul Recognition potion. This potion does two things. When the drinker takes the first sip, they are shown a glimpse of their soul mates. When the drinker takes a second sip, they feel a tugging sensation and they are led to their 'mates'. This potion is relatively easy to brew, the page number is on the board. You have the whole period, begin."

Students gathered their ingredients in a flurry of movement. Many were excited and couldn't wait to get a glimpse of their soul mates. Others, namely Severus, scoffed at the teacher and decided to begin the potion at more sedated pace. Severus didn't believe in that soul mate crap, there was no one out there that was perfect for him, and would love him unconditionally from the moment they met. That was a ridiculous thing to believe. However, silly idea or not, a potion was a potion and he needed to get started if he wanted to finish by the end of the period.

On the opposite side of the room, the Marauders were already hard at work. Well…as hard as they could work. James was trying to make the potion brew twice as fast since he wanted to see his Lily-flower's beautifully face after he drank the potion. Sirius wasn't very into enthused. He had his eye on one particular person, and he didn't really have the heart to drink the potion. He didn't want to know that he had someone else for a soul mate. Remus was nearly the same, the only difference was he already knew who his mate was. Remus just hadn't said anything because he was terrified of his mate's reaction. Peter honestly had no talent in potions; he had given up in the class a long time ago. He had taken to throwing random objects into his cauldron.

"Is everything all set for tonight Moony?" James asked. Remus nodded at him, not looking away from his potion.

"Yes, Prongs. Before dinner we'll sneak into the kitchens and we'll place the potion into Severus's food." Remus said quietly.

The others nodded.

The rest of the class passed normally. Remus, James and Sirius all managed to create decent or well made potions while Peter made a drastically different potion that, more often than not, didn't work in any way. His potion looked like violet broth.

When it came time to taste and bottle their potions, all of the students except for three eagerly took on sip from theirs. The majority of class groaned in disappointment when nothing happened. Severus just rolled his eyes and handed his bottle to Professor Slughorn. Remus followed his example and walked to the teacher.

While he was away James and Sirius-after James's insistent pestering- took a sip from their potions. James didn't see anything. He wasn't upset though. He had come to the conclusion that that was due to his hasty work. Sirius on the other hand had seen something, something wonderful. He got a brief flash of scarred golden skin, sand colored hair, and amber eyes. A large, delighted smile broke out on his face. After tonight's prank, he had some serious planning to do. Ha ha, Serious Sirius.

Peter, in a moment of clumsiness had knocked his vial off of his desk. Luckily for him, all of the bottles in the class were charmed to be unbreakable. However, the bottle bounced and rolled when it hit the ground and landed in Remus's open bag. Quickly, Peter reached into the bag and pulled out the bottle of purple liquid. He stood and brought his potion up to Slughorn's desk, and most definitely did NOT squeak when Slughorn admonished him for failing so miserably.

When Remus came back to the table, he was very wary of the bright smile that was on Sirius's face. The black haired boy was looking straight up to the ceiling, unblinking, and smiling. It was rather creepy. He was going to ask James if he knew what was wrong with Sirius, but James was muttering to himself about hastily made potions and flowers.

Seriously, why were his friends so weird?

~Later, in the Kitchens~

The group was circled around the table setting that they knew belonged to Severus Snape. Remus took out the potion and what looked like a paint brush. Sirius, James and Peter were all cackling madly, thinking about how beautiful this prank would be.

"Oh sweet Merlin, and when his hair disappears I don't think that I'll be able to hold it in! I'm going to die of laughter" Sirius wiped a stray tear that was rolling out of the corner of his eye. The mental picture was too damn funny!

"Oh! Or when his skin changes to bright pink, that'll be the best part!" Remus rolled his eyes at his friends. Honestly, they were enjoying this far too much.

The werewolf carefully brushed the potion onto the plate. But something was off about the potion. It could have just been a trick of the light or something, but the potion looked thicker and a shade or two darker than it did that morning. Poor Remus must have not gotten enough sleep last night and now he was just hallucinating a bit, yes that's it. After all, nothing could have happened to his potion today. It was safely tucked away in his bag all day.

Right?

Oh well, no need to dwell on that right now. He had to finish spreading the potion on the plate and the cup so they could leave.

It didn't take long to finish with the potion, and a few anti detection spells later the four were are on their way out of the kitchen and up to the Gryffindor common room before dinner. Sirius, James and Peter were waiting anxiously for what they said was going to be 'the prank of the century'. The three were happy.

So, why wasn't Remus?

~In the Ravenclaw common room~

Harry was lounging on a very comfortable cushion, engrossed in a very interesting book about 'dark' creatures. He almost jumped out of his skin when three different people hopped onto his cushion. He was momentarily airborne, taking his attention away from his book. When he landed he saw that the three culprits were, unsurprisingly, his three friends. He glared at them.

"Was that completely necessary you guys?" Harry asked halfheartedly. He already knew what the answer would be.

"Why-"

"-Little Harry-"

"-Of course-"

"-It was!" Fabian and Gideon finished at the same time. Xeno nodded in agreement. Harry huffed at his friends, making them laugh. He didn't question how the twins got in the Ravenclaw tower, he was kind of afraid of what the answer would be this time.

"Was there something that you three needed?"

"We just decided-"

"-That since we're your best friends and all-"

"-That we should take it upon ourselves-"

"-To bring you down to dinner!" The grins on the twins' faces alarmed Harry. When two pairs of freckled arms shot out and lifted Harry into the air, Harry yelled.

Fabian and Gideon carried the yelling boy all the way down to the Great Hall with Xeno following, laughing all the way.

Dinner was once again a loud affair. At the Gryffindor table, the Marauders were eating, like normal, but they were paying an unnatural amount of attention to the Slytherin table.

At the Ravenclaw table, Harry and his friends were happily eating (with the twins either stealing food to his and Xeno's plates or adding food to mess with them) and talking about random things. It was quite peaceful actually.

At the Slytherin table Severus Snape was enjoying his new potions text, occasionally writing something in the margins. He hadn't taken a bite of his dinner yet, nor had he tried his pumpkin juice (much to the irritation of certain Gryffindors).

And the Hufflepuffs…well they were still their cheerful selves.

This manner continued for the next twenty minutes. When it finally looked like Severus wasn't going to have any dinner at all, the Marauders pouted. Well, Remus felt something like…relief? What was with him today? However, just when they were about to ignore the Slytherins, movement caught their attention. Severus picked up his goblet, slowly bringing it to his lips. Sirius and James had shit-eating grins on their faces as they watched their enemy. That bad feeling was once again churning in Remus's stomach. The closer the cup got to Severus's lips, the more Remus wanted to scream at him to put the cup down.

Severus took a sip of his juice. Nothing happened. Remus sagged in relief.

He was about to go back to dinner when the dark haired Slytherin fell off of his chair clutching his head and screaming.

Something was severely wrong. This was not what was supposed to happen when Severus ingested the potion. The changes were supposed to be subtle and painless. Remus should have listened to his gut earlier when he was putting the potion in the dishes. He felt awful. He might not have liked Severus, but that didn't mean that he wanted anything bad to happen to him.

Professor Dumbledore and Madame Pomphrey were rushing to Severus's side, blocking him from view of the other students.

Sirius, James and Peter went back and forth from staring at Severus to staring at Remus, silently asking him for the answer.

"I-I don't know. I made the potion perfectly. This was not its affect." He said quietly. "Did any of you touch the potion after I bottled it?" He asked seriously. Sirius and James shook their heads; know that if they had touched the potion Remus would have murdered them. Peter on the other hand gulped nervously. "Pete, I need to know, what did you do?"

Peter stuttered nervously, trying to put his thoughts into words. Just when he thought he could say something, a second scream tore through the Great Hall. Most of the room's attention switched to the Ravenclaw table.

Harry was clawing at his head. It hurt. Oh sweet Merlin did it hurt! It felt like someone was trying to drill into his head and it hurt so much! He wanted whatever was happening to him to stop! He wanted the pain to go AWAY! He could hear Xeno and the twins calling out to him, but they sounded so far away, almost like they were separated by a thick wall of water. Someone tried touching him. It burned. He screamed some more, wanting them to get the message that he couldn't stand their touch, it hurt, it burned, it was wrong.

Pain that wasn't his own flashed briefly in Severus's mind. Someone else was feeling this as well? He wasn't the only one suffering through this unbearable pain? He reached out with his mind to find the other person going through this. It took a minute, but when he found the other person's mind, he latched onto it.

Then, then pain stopped, but neither Severus nor Harry could enjoy it. The pain was too much for their bodies to take. They both passed out, falling into a deep, peaceful sleep.

James felt helpless as he watched his brother writhing in pain. He had shot up from his seat and tried to soothe the pain away like their mother did when they were babies, but Harry had only screamed more. His hand had retracted as if he had been burned. Something in the back of his mind had whispered traitorous thoughts that the reason Harry was screaming at his touch was because he couldn't stand James.

'Why would he want comfort from you of all people? When have you ever cared about him?'

James shook his head furiously. 'He's my brother! Of course I care about him!'

'You have a rather funny way of showing it. What did you do when he called for you when he was sick two years ago? You just looked the other way and went to be with Sirius. Let's not forget that you ignore him in school like you don't even have a brother.'

James swallowed a lump in his throat. He hadn't done all that, had he? He hadn't meant to, he just wanted to give his brother time with his friends. Or, at least, that's what he told himself. When Harry stopped screaming, James cautiously placed a hand on his forehead, brushing away his messy bangs.

'This is your fault you know, you can feel it, his pain is connected to your prank. If you had only checked the potion…' The voice trailed off, but its words echoed through James's head. It was his fault. He should have been more careful, he should have stopped to check the potion. But he didn't. He had let his silly little rivalry against Snape could his better judgment.

The Prewett twins tried to lift Harry up, but James smacked their hands. He didn't want them to touch his brother, what if they hurt him some more?

A hand, old but firm, grabbed his shoulder, prying him away from his twin. Who did they think they were? Looking up, he saw Dumbledore's face close to his. The man looked disappointed, like he thought James had done this on purpose. How could he think that?

"Mr. Potter, I believe that it would be best to get your brother to the infirmary so we can assess the damage." He gave James a look that left no room for an argument.

Eventually, James managed to pry his hands from his brother. Dumbledore gave him a strained smile before levitating Harry out of the Great Hall.

James made his way back to the Gryffindor table in a daze. He would find out what was wrong with his brother and he would fix it, and then he would try and fix their relationship. Merlin knows how long that that would take. The moment he sat down, he was wrapped in one armed hugs on both of his sides.

"Pete told us what happened. It was an accident. His assignment for potions class accidentally fell into my bag. He passed in our joke potion. It was an accident." Remus said softly.

"I-I'm sorry James. I really didn't think…I'm sorry." Peter kept stuttering out apologies, and while James kept nodding his head at him, he never actually said that Peter was forgiven.

~Infirmary~

It started with Severus and Harry being placed in adjacent beds. Poppy was casting spell after spell in their directions. Dumbledore was sitting on a transfigured chair near her, talking with Professor Slughorn and Professor Flitwick.

"You will have to notify their parents immediately. Inform then that there has been an accident and we are doing our best to help the boys, but their presence is requested. Use my floo." Dumbledore said. The two professors nodded and rushed off to the headmaster's office.

The aged wizard stared at the two boys on the beds. He felt like he had somehow betrayed them by not stopping this…whatever it was.

He stared at them for what felt like ever, looking for some sign that that they were alright, other than the constant negatives that Poppy's scans were giving. Something faint on Harry's pale finger caught Albus's attention. It was pale gold and translucent, wrapping around his left ring finger.

Odd.

He got up from his seat and examined Severus's left hand. He found a matching ring.

"Oh dear. Poppy…I think…."

Harry was in his mindscape. How does he know this? His mother had taught him a few meditation techniques. Now he has a very lovely mindscape.

Most people would assume that his mindscape would resemble the Potter Library or something around those lines, but they're wrong. His mindscape was a replica of his private greenhouse gardens at home. There were thousands of flowers, trees, vegetables and fruits, with hundreds of butterflies and dragonflies flying around a beautiful circular fountain in the center. He had organized this place carefully. Each plant was a separate memory. If he called out specific key words, each plant containing a memory that he requested would be flown over to him by some of the bugs.

He had been here hundreds of times before. He knew this place better than he knew the back of his hand.

So when he looked around and saw a beautiful black iron door that he had never seen before, he was more than alarmed. He had not added that door, so where did it come from?

Picking up a shovel, he walked over to the door. Cautiously, he poked it.

Nothing happened.

He pressed the end of the shovel down on the knob (hey, just because nothing happened didn't mean that he was going to go and touch the thing), cracking it open. He peeked inside.

On the other side of the door was…white. Lots and lots of white, empty space, with one door, similar to the one he was looking through across from him. It reminded him of when his mum had started teaching him how to reach his mindscape. At first his was just empty white space waiting to be altered. Was this place the same?

Slowly, he took one step forward, like he was afraid he would fall if he stepped into the room. That didn't happen, however. Instead large flat stones appeared under his feet with each step he took. It made him confident that he wouldn't die trying to get across the room, so he took a few more steps, shovel still in hand.

When he stood in front of the other door, he went through the same process as the first door. But, when he looked through the crack he didn't find another empty space, he found something more intricate and beautiful.

It was the Forbidden Forest. Complete with moss covered trees and dead leaves and twigs littering the ground.

Did this place belong to someone?

It had to, there was no way something this detailed could just show up.

Footsteps. Harry wanted to run back to his gardens.

"Who's there." A voice, cold as ice, froze a Harry in his spot.

Severus spent the entirety of his time staring at that damned door that dared to show up in HIS mind. It was his for a reason!

When the door opened, he was sure that if he had had his wand with him, he would have blasted the person out of his mind. The door opened slightly and he didn't hesitate to confront the intruder.

"Who's there?" There was no answer, like he expected. He threw the door open with so much force that if it were a normal door it would have cracked in several places.

On the other side was…Potter. Potter was looking straight up at him with wide green eyes. Wait…Potter didn't have green eyes. His eyes were hazel. Severus glared at the Potter lookalike.

"Who are you and why do you look like James Potter." Somehow Severus figured that this was the wrong thing to say. Maybe it was the way the boy seemed to go completely rigid. Or maybe it was the way that his eyes seemed to both sharpen and turn into green fire.

"You know who I am Snape. We've met before." The boy snapped. Severus tried thinking of where he had met this boy before, but he honestly couldn't think of anything. The boy realized this and let out a loud, humorless laugh. "The last time we met, Snape, you also thought that I was my brother." Brother? Potter had a brother…? Oh…right. Little Potter.

"I remember you. You're Other Potter."

"I HAVE A NAME YOU MORON!" Other Potter yelled. He looked like he could hit Severus right then and there. "IT'S HARRY. H-A-R-R-Y!" Harry went on rambling about how he was NOT his brother and how people should shut up and get it right.

Severus had had enough.

"Potter." Harry stopped talking and looked up at him. "I don't care what the hell your first name is, just get out of my mind. NOW!"

It looked like Harry was going to tell him off for a moment, but decided against it. "Fine. I will." Harry stormed out of his min, taking extra care to slam the door on his way out.

When Harry came to, Harry tiredly noted that he was in the infirmary. What was rather odd though was the very comfortable bed. It was firmer and warmer than he remembered. What was different today? He sat up, and screamed.

Underneath him was Severus Snape.

A/N: you know, I was going to make this chapter longer, but I didn't. :D Sorry guys.