I'm trying to keep up here as much as I can. It's not as easy as it looks, especially with all the additions I'm making and such, but I'm trying my best. I want great quality work for all my fanfics which can sometimes be really hard. I have to go back and fix grammar and sometimes rewrite some of them to get them up to snuff to make them as great as they can be. I hope you guys keep enjoying these fanfic chapters though. Thank you all so much for the support and telling me I can take all the time I need in order to give you great chapters.

Disclaimer: Not mine

Warnings: Shonen ai, suicidal thoughts at some points, people going evil…

Thank yous!: To Cabuckeye for being my beta

Notes: (X) POV change or time jump.

Chapter, 7: Mind Games, Again

"So then, with one more year before I can get rid of you," he said looking around the room his gaze lingering for half a second or so on most of the students from Gryffindor as he spoke. "I will be pushing you all to your limits and more, for if you do not receive at least an "acceptable" you will be a very sad person I promise you," he said in all seriousness and Harry found himself believing every word of it.

However, even with that feeling of dread at the thought that he had one more year in Potions class, his heart felt a bit lighter thinking that in one year, he could drop this class and never have to look at Snape again.

"Today we will be making a potion known as "the Draught of Peace" which is used to calm anxiety and sootheagitation. This potion is at an Ordinary Wizarding Level and be warned now-if you add too much of your ingredients to your potion, the drinker will be placed into a heavy and sometime irreversible sleep. So pay close attention," he warned his gaze once again lingering on Harry.

Harry began to feel the lightness go away and a tight knot begin to form within his stomach. He closed his eyes sighing a bit and reopened them as Snape tapped the board with his wand and all the ingredients along with the process of how to make the potion appeared on it.

Without saying a word he then pointed his wand towards the store cupboard and all the ingredients they'd need appeared within it.

"You have an hour and a half, begin."

Harry knew right from the start that this potion wasn't going to be easy and he was right. He figured the only person capable of ever getting this one right was Hermione who always got everything right.

'Ordinary Wizarding Level my arse,' Harry thought to himself. The Shadow quickly picked up on his thoughts appearing beside him.

'The potion,' it questioned curiously and Harry gave a slight nod. 'Not such a hard thing,' it said one arm going around Harry's waist. 'Get your things, I'll help.'

Harry nodded figuring even if the Shadow knew next to nothing about potions; it would be able to pull this off better than he ever could. The Shadow looked over him staring down at the book and reading it silently while Harry waited actually feeling a bit bad that the Shadow was doing all the work.

'Actually…do you think you could just help me…I need to learn this stuff anyway.'

The Shadow mentally nodded and reread the instructions smiling.

'Alright, I'll just help you then.'

"Having fun Potter," Malfoy asked from the side winning a deep blush from Harry. "Thought so."

'Ignore him for a bit, alright, I want you to take these two things and tell me what you do with them.'

Harry grabbed the ingredients and started to work.

(X)

"Alright then class, times up," Snape said smirking evilly as he began walking around the class looking at all the cauldrons. He ignored Hermione's as usual knowing he wouldn't be able to find anything wrong with it. So instead he turned his eyes onto his favorite target and headed over to Harry.

"So Mr. Potter…what do we have here," Snape asked happily. He seemed sure that he would be able to condemn Harry on his first day back.

"The Draught of Peace sir," Harry answered him knowing Snape shouldn't be able to say really anything bad about his potion. It wasn't perfect looking like Hermione's, but then it didn't look anything like Neville's which had turned into what looked like green cement.

"I see," he said looking it over and stirring it one more time. The potion took on the look it was supposed to. "5 points off for not getting it completely done in time," he said smirking as evilly as he could and walking back to his desk.

Harry nearly jumped him for that, but the spirit held him back promising revenge later. It took all of his will power to keep Harry from pulling away from the Shadow and running after him.

Snape ordered them to put their potions into a flask, put their names on it, and leave it on his desk for testing. Harry did so quickly then went back to his area to clean up the rest before he could get into any more trouble.

After doing so Malfoy and he walked out of the classroom together both talking about one thing or another, mostly how unfair Snape had just been and what they might be able to do to get revenge on him for it. Harry was a bit surprised that Malfoy was actually willing to help him get revenge on his favorite teacher, but said nothing of it. He was just glad regardless if Draco was joking or not, that he was helping him run over ideas and at least pretend to go along with it.

They sat down eating their lunch, still going over plans on what might be able to get Snape back or not. At one point or another the Shadow would cut in offering Harry its thoughts on the matter and then how he might possibly make that plan work or a way to make one of the plans Draco better.

Lunch went by uneventful and as they walked out of the great hall they said their goodbyes going to their own respected classes.

"That was a nice lunch. I didn't even have to put up with Hermione's and Ron's bickering," he said happily as he made his way up the marble staircase to his Divination class. As he walked into the room Harry took a seat down in the shadows while his teacher, Professor Trelawney, went around placing books onto the tables all around the room.

As he sat down though and looked around, Professor Trelawney's head shot up and her eyes settled down on Harry. She silently placed the books she had left in her arms on her desk and proceeded over to him never taking her eyes off of him.

"So it's true," she said in her normal dreamy-like voice as she walked around Harry, her eyes stopping on the shadow. "You have finally gotten yourself a guardian, but is it a good one or a bad," she asked looking the Shadow over. Harry said nothing, this being the first Professor, besides Dumbledore, to question him about the Shadow.

The Shadow in turn though moved from the spot it was at wrapping its arms around Harry gently and narrowing its red eyes at the professor.

"It's very protective of you Mr. Potter," she went on and her eyes grew a bit larger than normal. "You will need this guardian, good or evil, in the near future to save you from a most gruesome death."

With that said she walked back to her desk getting the books and began setting her class up the rest of the way as the other students walked in.

Harry said nothing asa feeling of dread passed over him. If she predicated Harry for once being saved from a sure death, that probably meant he was going to die this time.

Professor Trelawney asked them all to read the introduction to the book of The Dream Oracle, by Inigo Imago. The class went by pretty fast until the professor noticed Harry had no partner and paired him up with Ron.

"Let's just get this over with so we don't get in trouble," Harry said flatly not wanting to get any of his grades ruined.

Ron nodded in agreement for once and flipped to the dream index.

"Alright, what kind of dream did you have last night?"

Flash

The same horribly dim lit hall, Harry tugging at a door he knew wouldn't open no matter what and a figure walking towards him. Walking towards him and trying to grab out at him and even though Harry wanted nothing to do with this figure, another part of him wanted it to find him.

Flash

"Harry….you're really pale lookin' mate…" Ron's voice trailed off as Harry's eyes darted towards him.

"I'm not your mate," he hissed wanting nothing more now than to be out of the room. "You can't stand me remember," he went on his voice taking on a new kind of edge that Ron had never heard before. It reminded him of what he thought a dark wizard might sound like.

"Lo-"

"Don't look me," Harry said standing up as the bell rang. "You can't stand me right, so just bug off and leave me alone. I'm sick of being pinned with your mother's death and-"

"I know you didn't kill my mum," Ron cut him off looking down.

"What?"

"I said I know you didn't kill my mum," he repeated louder, his voice cracking. "Dumbledore and some other guys from the Ministry that are helping us, they did a full investigation and stuff…no one that was staying in the house did it."

Harry stared at him a long moment trying to decide if he really wanted to still be friends with a guy who used to be his best friend, but automatically blamed him for the death of his mother with no proof. Would a best friend really blame his mate for something like that so quickly? Didn't that mean Ron had no trust for him to begin with?

"…any leads on who they think did it," he finally asked. Ron shook his head slowly and before Harry knew what he was doing, he had his arm around Ron's shoulder and they were talking together down the marble staircase.

The Shadow watched following behind them making sure Ron wasn't going to try anything it didn't approve of as they walked. Eventually Harry had put his arm down as Ron and he were talking as though they'd never been fighting.

(X)

"So don't make them fight again," Malfoy asked absently as he watched Harry, Ron, and Hermione walk together towards their Defense against the dark arts class.

'You'll see what I have in store.'

"I'll be willing to help when the time comes."

'Be sure that you are.'

(X)

Harry took his seat in the classroom next to Ron and they waited for the newest professor at Hogwarts to come in. The minute the class heard the door click open, everyone went quiet waiting to see just how this teacher was going to act.

"Well, good afternoon!" she said in a loud sweet voice and most of the class was ready to stand up and leave. They were all still a bit rowdy from lunch and didn't want to be sitting in a classroom. When she got no answers from the class she narrowed her eyes a bit, barely noticeable, but the three friends did.

"Tut, tut," she said eyes still slightly narrowed. "That won't do, now will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!" Everyone muttered their replies and Umbridge was finally happy and went on. "There, now that wasn't too difficult, was it," she asked sweetly. Again the class was tempted to up and leave. "Wands away and quills out, please."

At this point Ron nearly did stand up along with a few others, but they all quickly sat back down noticing the class was not over with.

She wrote down the goals of the class on the board and asked them to write them down on a parchment while she started talking.

"Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theoryby Wilbert Slinkhard," she asked still in that odd sweet voice. Harry found himself increasingly wanting to go back to Divination and hear his death predicated a few hundred times.

"Yes Professor Umbridge," they all replied not wanting to hear her talk anymore.

"Good. I should like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, 'Basics for Beginners.' There will be no need to talk."

She sat down at her desk a smug look on her face as the students pulled out their books and began reading. Harry found this to be one of the hardest assignments he'd ever had to pay attention to and that was saying something considering how Professor Binns's classes usually went.

The harder he tried to pay attention and understand what the book was saying the farther away his attention span went. Finally he gave up and began looking around the room. He noticed Ron's eyes hadn't moved in the past 40 seconds and dubbed him brain dead from the text and then he noticed Hermione. Her hand was up in the air and she was waiting for Professor Umbridge to notice her.

Professor Umbridge of course was completely ignoring her and didn't even seem to notice Hermione was in the class at all. Eventually though the entire class began staring at her and the professor was forced to acknowledge her.

"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear," she asked Hermione in that fake innocent voice.

"No, I'd like to ask something about the course aims," she said quickly.

"Yes, but we're reading the chapter right now, if you wish for me to answer any questions about something else, please do so after class is over, I'll be happy to answer them."

"I think this should be answered now," Hermione said defensively. More than a few murmurs went up in the room, Hermione usually being the perfect student and doing exactly what she was told.

"Well, miss?"

"Granger. Hermione Granger."

"Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully," she said doing her best not to lash out at Hermione. The rest of the class picked up on this instantly and began to fidget in their desks, some of them grabbing their wands. They knew none of their defense against the dark arts teachers could be safe or sane.

"Well, I don't," Hermione said without a second thought. "There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells."

"Why in the world would we use defensive spells in the classroom," she asked laughing a bit. "Why you'll never need those."

"We're not going to be using magic," Ron asked shocked and a lot of the other students in the room began talking as well.

"Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class Mr.-"

"Weasley," Ron said putting his hand into the air immediately. The professor turned away to ignore him.

"Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted something else?"

"Yes. Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells."

Professor Umbridge started going on and on about how the Ministry had decided that they were to only use theory and not actually practice the spells. That they should be able to do the spells as long as they study the theories enough when the OWL exams came and that they'd never need to use these spells besides there. The entire class became infuriated.

Harry however was far past that point. With everyone going on and on he slammed his fist onto his desk everyone looking over at him the instant he did it.

"And what good's theory going to be in the real world," he asked venomously and the entire class began backing away from him.

"This is school, Mr. Potter, not the real word."

"So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting out there?"

"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter."

"Really," he asked wanting to cast one of the unforgivable curses on her.

"And just who do you believe is going to attack little children hmm?"

Harry rolled his eyes and laughed at her.

"Gee I wonder who would want to attack us," he asked loudly in fake thoughtful voice as he looked from one student to the other. "Well besides half the crap the Ministry has thrown at us," he growled loudly. "How about Lord Voldemort?"

All the side chattering stopped and everyone went pale or whatever else it was that they did when Voldemort's name was mentioned.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter. The Dark Wizard is dead and has not returned from that death-"

"He was never dead," Harry hissed and Ron and Hermione both got the impression Harry was possessed by a snake at the moment. "He didn't have to be brought back to life; he just had to get his powers back."

"That is a lie-"

"It was NOT a lie! I saw him regain his powers! I fought him!"

"Detention Mr. Potter," Umbridge shouted as she stood up from her desk her eyes mere pin points as she glared at Harry. "That is a complete lie and if anyone comes around telling you that some kind of dark wizard is back into power, come to me and I will tell you otherwise. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any kind of dark wizard!"

Everyone thought this would settle it, but instead Harry once again slammed his fist into the desk a large crack appearing on it.

"So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he," he asked his eyes flaring.

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," she replied back just as venomously as Harry had before.

At this point everyone in the class could feel the tension growing and wondered if the teacher and Harry were going to get into a magical duel. If that was the case though, crazy or not, they all agreed to help Harry.

"Voldemort killed him, and you know It." he went on still hissing every few words as he said it.

Professor Umbridge went silent and her face went from its angry mode to a completely emotionless look.

"Mr. Potter, come here," she said in a deathly calm voice and Harry gladly kicked the chair he'd been sitting in aside and walked towards her. The other kids in the room jumped at this movement, but never took their eyes off Harry.

The Shadow by this point had finally gotten back to Harry and after going over a quick scan of Harry's thoughts instantly became enraged. It grabbed one of the books, Ron's actually, and slammed it aside Professor Umbridge's head growling loudly.

Umbridge instantly got to her feet screaming.

"Who did that? Was it you Mr. Potter," she demanded looking from him to the others in the room. More than half the class had thought it'd been her trying to ram the book into Harry's head and had gotten their wands out. "What in the world…do you under taught students believe you can actually take me on?"

"You were trying to attack Harry," Ron screamed. "Or…we thought you were," he said a bit sheepishly as he noticed how stupid that sounded since the book that had hit Umbridge and not his friend.

"I will not stand for this! You are students under my teaching and the Ministry of Magic-"

"Do you really think we care about the Ministry anymore," Harry asked in Parseltongue. That was the final straw. Everyone in the class besides Ron and Hermione stood up and walked out of the classroom all of them filing in front of the door of their Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

Umbridge quickly backed away from Harry as well and started running towards a corner. It was then that Ron noticed the Shadow not too far away from Harry.

"Harry! The vampire is next to you," he screamed. "Watch out!"

Harry turned away from Umbridge and half the students started looking around trying to see if they could spot the "vampire". Most of them couldn't but there were a few who could. Those who did see it ended up running away and screaming.

"Harry snap out of it," Hermione tried to order him in a calm voice. She didn't want Harry to end up in jail for killing Umbridge. She was worth killing, but still she didn't want to see Harry in jail.

The Shadow began calming down and after relaxing walked over to Harry wrapping its arms around him. Harry began calming down instantly and he began swaying a bit. His eyes closed and it looked like he was going to pass out soon. As his knees buckled and he began to fall Malfoy pushed his way through the crowd of students and into the room catching Harry.

He looked up at Umbridge a scowl across his face his eyes narrowed.

"My father is going to be most displeased with this," he growled at her helping Harry up. Ron and Hermione despite the fact that they hated Malfoy ran over to help him with Harry.

The kids in front of the door backed off again and they all left, the Shadow following closely behind. Umbridge stayed in the room, shaking, near tears, wondering what in the world was going on.

One of the students outside smirked, slammed the door shut and locked it with their wand.

TBC

Oh wow…that part in Umbridge's class was fun to write…I realize I tooksome parts straight from the book, I tried rephrasing it so it didn't seem like it too much, but parts of it to fit in properly had to be done, like Harry's detention and such. I hope you guys do enjoy the update though. Thanks for sticking around, have good days, times, and luck until next time. Ja ne!