"Harry, for God's sake, if you don't sit your ass down and stop pacing I will strangle you and save Voldemort the trouble!" Hermione snapped from her spot on the floor, and it was enough to give Harry pause.

"I'm sorry, I'm just worried!" he defended, and she glared and snapped and pointed her fingers to the spot in front of her.

"You wouldn't be so worked up if you could just try to relax and meditate! Trust me, Harry, this is an important skill and I know you haven't practiced at all, please humor me," she nearly begged. She'd been trying all break to get him to try to practice Occlumency, but he was too worried about having another vision to pay attention. Even now, as he sat, his brows were furrowed and his foot jiggled with nervous energy.

"Harry, listen to me. I know you are worried about having another vision- so am I. But let's try an exercise in thinking right now instead of meditating. I need you to understand the importance of trying hard here. You had a vision that Mr. Weasley was attacked, and you were the snake attacking him," she said. Here, he flinched.

"But please understand my worry here. What if that was a test from Voldemort? To know that your mind is open to manipulate and he can put in whatever he wants? What if next time is a trap? This is why I need you to clear your mind and focus- so he can't manipulate you anymore than he already has."

Harry froze and went pale, and nodded slowly. Hermione took his hands, leaning forward and putting his palms over hers.

"Now, I'm going to use magic to try to help you, okay? I'll link our magic, and that will let me ease you into my mind and show you how I do it, which may make it easier for you. But first, I need you to clear your mind so you don't bring anything over with you," she explained, and he took a deep breath.

"Okay… I'll try," he finally relented, and Hermione gave him a genuine smile. She helped guide his breathing and felt him relaxing, and brought him slowly over to her mind.

Walls of books surrounded him, and Hermione's voice guided him.

"Go ahead, try to grab one," she offered, and Harry pulled a book from the shelf. It fell open, but only gibberish came out. He put it back and tried again to the same effect.

"Every book will have that response right now. Now, try saying please first," she nudged, and Harry felt quite silly as he asked the bookcase "please."

The book opened, and an image projected into the room like a 3-D movie. Hermione and Harry stood side by side, both prideful as they watched patronuses flying around the room. Harry, proud of his students. And Hermione, proud of her friend being a leader. The book closed itself and returned, and the walls faded away as Hermione returned him to his own mind.

The two grinned goofily, but Hermione was quick to return to lecture mode.

"I know you won't want anything like a library, but there are a load of options. Do what feels natural to you- it's like a Patronus, in a way. It requires focus and practice, but you're a smart boy, Harry. You can do this," she told him seriously, and he smiled sheepishly.

"I do have a question. Why did I have to say please?" he asked, and Hermione gave him a scary grin.

"Like hell Voldemort would stop to be polite" she told him, and the two burst out laughing.