A/N – The updates will be coming much slower after hits, most likely ever 4 – 6 days. I hope you can be patient enough for that long.

Thank you for your reviews. (:

Enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 7; The Mark

The first week of school went fast and by the end of it Harry and all of his classmates were exhausted. Not much had changed from last year, except Umbridge's rein and Snape's class assignment.

They had all been given a tonne of homework, especially their DADA class. Snape seemed to be putting them through their paces about what they had learned over the years, which he frequently told them, was dismal at best.

Harry had expected the first lesson to be absolutely terrible with Snape given that he was furious with Harry at the moment and Slytherin were sharing the class with the sixth year lions. Yet he had just ignored Harry, occasionally criticising and correcting Harry's pronunciation and movement.

Overall the lesson was more than tolerable and even Ron didn't have much to complain about. It was as if Snape was happier teaching this subject and when Harry thought about it, he was probably right.

"Here you go Harry; I've done your study timetable for you." Hermione pronounced as she pranced towards him with a sheet of paper in her hand.

"You work quick Hermione." He said with a grin, she just smiled and shoved the paper against his chest.

"I think she's going to be more obsessed with study this year Harry." Mumbled Ron behind his hand, but making sure she could hear him.

"Well we have NEWTS next year Ron, what do you expect?" Hermione snarled as she swatted at him, but he quickly evaded the attack and grabbed her arm.

Harry laughed at his struggling friends who fell on to the ground and began rolling around on the Common Room floor yelling and shouting, drawing attention from everyone else in the room.

"Get off 'Mione!" Shouted Ron who was pinned against the ground until the creak of the portrait brought everyone's attention around.

Severus Snape walked in to the Gryffindor common room, his black robes billowing around him like usual.

Everyone had fallen silent. No one from Slytherin should be in the Gryffindor rooms, it was wrong and unnatural.

A few of the rowdy seventh years shouted something, but it seemed to go unnoticed by the Potions Master.

"Mr Potter." He growled and Harry felt the entire body of Gryffindor look in his direction, "you are needed in the Headmaster's office."

Hermione and Ron stepped forward with Harry, but quickly stopped when Snape shot them a nasty glare.

Once out of the Common Room Harry turned to Snape. It had been only a few hours since the detention he had served and he was wondering if the man was in the same silent mood.

"Is something wrong Professor?" He asked timidly, his confidence around Snape quite small.

"No, not really, Potter." He replied and marched on, Harry struggling to catch up and match the man's long stride.

"Uh, can you please tell me what's going on?"

Snape looked at Harry with a quizzical look on his face, not something you usually see on the emotionless man's face.

"Why are you asking me Potter? Why can't you just wait until we get there?"

"Erm, well... most of the time when I'm called to Professor Dumbledore's office something horrible has happened." He said. His face was grim.

"I can assure you Mr Potter, nothing horrible has happened." Stated Snape as he muttered the password and they ascended to the Headmaster's office.

A commotion was coming from the inside and Snape saw Harry stiffen. He himself was not sure what was going on behind the ebony door.

"IT IS AGAINST SCHOOL POLICY! HE IS AN OUTSIDER AND HAS NO PLACE IN THIS SCHOOL!" Harry recognised the vocals immediately; they belonged to Professor Riggid.

"AND WHO ARE YOU TO DECIDE WHO STAYS IN THIS CASTLE OR NOT!" Roared an unfamiliar voice as Snape opened the door silently, his brows rising in to his hairline.

Harry entered the office after his Professor and was greeted by the sight of Riggid face to face with a tall and burly looking man, with the same eyes as Dumbledore.

The man himself was standing behind his desk. He looked as powerful, but calm as usual. He was looking directly at Harry and Snape.

"Ah Severus! Thank you for getting him." Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Yes, that will be the last time I enter that particular room." droned Snape, but Dumbledore simply smiled at him from across the room.

"How are you Harry?" Dumbledore asked, but Harry's eyes were focused on nothing else but the man who was towering over Riggid.

Aberforth Dumbledore had many features the same as Albus, but certain aspects were completely different. Where Dumbledore was skinny, Aberforth was quite large. Dumbledore's hair and beard were neat and trimmed and Aberforth's were almost as wild as Hagrid's. They both had the same smile, which Harry was on the receiving end of.

"Harry Potter, I cannot begin to convey how grateful I am that you informed Dumbledore of my little problem." The man said in his rough and deep voice.

Harry smiled and nodded his head, before turning to look at Riggid. The man looked ready to burst; he was purpling around the edges and looked apoplectic.

"What's going on?" asked Harry and he heard a faint scoff come from the corner where Snape was standing.

"Aberforth will be staying here for a while Harry, while we sort everything out." Dumbledore answered.

"HE SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED HERE AT ALL! ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE HIDING CERTAIN ASPECTS FROM THE STAFF!" Riggid screamed, pointing a very pudgy finger at Dumbledore, who just stood there, his eyes twinkling.

"I believe I decide who can take refuge in the castle Simon, not you, especially with this war going on," Dumbledore stated sternly, "and no, I am not hiding anything from the staff I can trust. Now I assume that you have some marking or a potion to get back to?"

Riggid visibly gritted his teeth and quickly exited the room, the door slamming in his wake.

"Severus, how are you?" Boomed Aberforth as he took a step forward and shook Snape's hand.

"I am well Aberforth, yourself?" Snape replied.

"Ah, well a more than a few Death Eaters are going to have to come after me to dampen my mood." He said brightly, stepping back from the Potions Master.

"Uh Professor?" Piped up Harry as two separate heads turned his way, "is there a specific reason for me being here?"

"That'd be my fault Harry. I just wanted to thank you for telling Dumbledore about he-who-must-not-be-named's plans for me. I couldn't get word to him as I was being tracked." Aberforth rumbled as he came over and shook Harry's hand.

"It's no problem at all sir, I'm glad I could do something to help." Replied Harry with a smile, "but I really have to get back, certain teachers have given me quite a lot of homework to finish." Snape received a pointed look from Harry which he simply scoffed at.

"You wish to intimidate me Potter?" He sneered, while Harry began smiling at him.

"It's worth a shot Professor." He retorted before he bid goodbye to all of the men and left to go back to his homework.

888

Lots of rumours were spreading fast around the Great Hall come breakfast time. All of them about the new man sitting at the Head Table next to Dumbledore.

"He does look similar to Dumbledore doesn't he?" Ron said once they had sat down at the Gryffindor table.

Harry had, of course, informed his two best friends about everything that had occurred in Dumbledore's office last night. They were both appalled about Riggid's behaviour and kept asking all sorts of things about Aberforth.

"You'd expect so Ron, they are family after all." Hermione said with a sigh as she looked up at the head table for the eighth time that morning.

Ron glared at her as he served himself more toast and eggs. Harry just laughed and looked around behind him to where Malfoy sat at the Slytherin table.

He had been quieter than usual and had seemed to separate himself more from Crabbe and Goyle. Harry hadn't even bickered with him yet and it had been a week of school.

Now looking back up at the Head table Harry realised that Snape was watching him with a dark expression on his face, almost begging him to try and do something to Malfoy.

Quickly looking away Harry ducked back down and focused on finishing his meal.

888

The potion door flung open and the room fell silent as a familiar black cloak and dark man strode in to the room. Severus Snape spun around at the front of the classroom and looked out over the sea of heads.

"Professor Riggid is unwell and unable to cover his class today. Headmaster Dumbledore asked me if I could take over for him and I obliged." He drawled, looking and acting as he used to, opposed to what he was like when teaching Defence.

"I believe you all had a potion to begin. So if you could attempt to brew an acceptable..." He shuffled through a few pages on the desk and looked sharply up at Harry, "Acetole potion by the end of the lesson. Be careful, this potion is very dangerous and extremely hard to brew."

Harry nodded his head slightly, not sure why Snape was looking at him so intently. He followed Hermione up to the potion cabinet and collected the ingredients he needed.

Severus Snape watched over the class, focusing mostly on the teenage boy who had received this potion before.

He was not sure if Potter was aware that this was the potion that he had been forced to drink whilst in the Dark Lord's presence, but either way it would have to be traumatic.

Harry looked over to Hermione who was stirring her potion quite calmly, opposed to Ron who looked frantic and Neville who had managed to explode his potion twice already. He seemed to struggle under Snape presence, which was reasonable after all.

Harry slowly stirred the salamander blood in to the potion in a clockwise direction. He had already added the newt eye, unicorn hairs and flobberworm faeces. The potion seemed oddly familiar, but he couldn't remember from where.

He leant over his cauldron and inhaled slightly. Suddenly it hit him. He had smelt this same potion when he had been locked in a dark and damp dungeon room. He had tasted this potion while being able to hear the insane cackle of Bellatrix Lestrange and being in the presence of Voldemort. He had felt it burn through his insides and eat away his flesh.

Harry quickly pulled his head back and looked up at Snape, who did not miss the flicker of fear that had passed through his eyes.

"Harry?" Said Hermione in a worried tone as he turned towards her, but everything was muffled and becoming fuzzy.

Severus Snape lunged forward as Harry collapsed in to a heap on the ground. Granger gasped and Weasley let out a few choice swearwords.

"Granger get out of the way, I need to get him to the hospital wing." Snape snarled as he physically shoved Hermione aside.

Scooping Potter in to his arms since he could not hover him, Snape moved towards the door. It was widely known that it was dangerous to hover someone who had recently inhaled unicorn hair, which Potter had managed to do.

"Granger, make sure Longbottom doesn't blow anything up." And with that last nasty remark Snape exited the dungeon room and began climbing the stairs to the hospital wing.

As Snape reached the last flight of stairs he couldn't help but notice that the boy was extremely light, definitely not heavy enough for his age. He could feel the boy's spine digging in to his forearms, especially where his overly sensitive Mark was.

The boy was underweight and he wasn't sure if that was completely related to Potter's relatives. The boy barely ate at meals and when he did it was not any beneficial food anyway.

Finally reaching the hospital wing, Snape walked along the ward and placed the unconscious boy on to a bed. He then called out for Poppy whilst he tried to rouse the boy. Harry mumbled slightly and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Professor?" He murmured as he scrubbed his eyes underneath his glasses, "What's going on?"

"You were brewing a potion that you shouldn't have been forced to create." Snape snarled darkly and beckoned for the nurse to come over.

"Is everything alright Mr Potter?" She said in her usual strident tone as she poured a glass of cold water for Harry to drink.

"Yeah, I am. I just... fainted I guess." Harry replied as he looked down at his hands and began to fidget. He could remember everything so clearly and he had just started to get over it all.

"He will only need to rest for a few moments Poppy, but he can skip the rest of this lesson," stated Snape as he returned the look of surprised belief that was all over Harry's face, "what Potter?"

"You of all people letting me get off of a lesson?" Harry chuckled, his eyes combing over the hospital ward, which was empty.

"Yes, well... sometimes they are granted." Returned Snape, "I must go Potter; I do not trust Miss Granger to look over Longbottom properly."

Harry laughed lightly and thanked the Professor once again.

"Also, you are not allowed to play Quidditch. You do not have enough weight on to play safely."

Harry's world stopped spinning and he watched his Professor exit the hospital door. He groaned and rolled on to the bed, his face pressed in to the pillow. He knew he was most likely to light to play Quidditch and that Snape was correct in not letting him play, but this knowledge gave him no outlet for the anger that he was feeling with himself. He should be eating more at meals, but it had gotten a lot harder since Sirius's death.

888

"Take these." Murmured Snape as Harry entered the DADA classroom for his daily detention.

Harry accepted the small vials of green liquid and put them in his pocket.

"What are they sir?" He asked as he walked over to stand in front of Snape's desk.

"They are nourishment potions; they will help you put weight on quicker so you can play Quidditch."

Harry looked up quickly and locked eyes with Snape.

"Thank you sir, but are you sure you want the Gryffindor seeker to be fit to play against Slytherin?" Harry said his smile widening.

Snape scoffed loudly and gave Harry a smirk.

"You think you're that good Potter?"

"I know my team is that good Professor," Harry retorted quickly, "what am I doing today?"

Snape looked at the teenager who sat in front of him. His eyes were still dull, but he seemed to be a lot more confident.

"Since you have been in detention so long Potter, I'm running out of ideas to punish you. So I'm afraid to say that you will be polishing trophies tonight."

Harry groaned loudly, stood up and followed Snape to the trophy room and got started.

Snape picked up the House trophy and went to pass it to Potter before his entire body seized up and a burning sensation shot up his left arm.

A gasp escaped his lips and the trophy clattered to the floor as he clamped his other hand on to his burning Mark. He looked over to Potter who had his eyes shut and was pressing his palm to his distinct lightning bolt scar.

"Potter?" Snape gasped through clenched teeth as he rose and stumbled over to the boy.

"I'm... alright sir." Harry replied as he opened his watering eyes and looked at his teacher who seemed to be in as much pain as he was. Then his eyes saw that the man was gripping on to his left forearm, the area his Dark Mark would be.

"Are you okay Professor?" He groaned through the throbbing in his scar, his heart pounding in his chest.

Snape merely grunted and indicated that Harry should follow him back to his office.

Once back, they sat down in front of the roaring fire. Harry was situated in a leather armchair.

"Doesn't it hurt sir?" Harry said to break the silence, worrying that he was wading in to something personal and dangerous.

"What do you think Potter?" Snape snarled.

"There is nothing we can do to stop it?" Harry asked, concern etching his brow.

"You could hurry up and kill the bastard Harry."

Harry paled.

"I just... I don't... I can't do it."

Snape's expression softened and he gingerly placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. The boy lent into the contact, staring fixedly at the hearth.

"Harry, you're not in this alone."

"Then why does it feel like it?" The young lion whispered.

"I can assure you Harry I am not going to let you go through this war alone. No matter what I am told to do." Snarled the Professor and both of them knew that an understanding had passed between them, something that would most definitely change their relationship for good.

"I... You mean it sir?"

Snape solemnly nodded his head, his hair falling in front of his face. He wasn't sure what he was playing at, why he was gaining this boy's trust, why he cared so much about Potter at all, but he did.

"I – I thought you hated me." The boy mumbled still leaning in to Snape's contact.

"I thought I did." Replied Snape as he rubbed his temples. The boy flicked his eyes up to meet Snape's, "but you've changed, you're not like your father at all. He would have broken after what you went through. He was too spoilt to do anything more, but you haven't. You're more like your mother than I realised."

The silence was tense but after a few seconds Harry dropped his eyes, but gave a faint smile.

"My father was a bit of a bastard." Harry chuckled.

"He was, but to others he was a good man. Do not let my views on your father change yours. Saying that, I would rather we did not discuss him at all." Snape droned, as he withdrew his hand from the boy and stood up, "your detention is over Mr Potter, you may return to your Common Room"

Harry stood from the leather chair a faint smile on his face.

"Have a good night sir."

"Thank you Harry."

Before Harry could spin around and give a shocked look at his teacher, the door closed and was locked from the inside.

888

Harry woke to a harsh shout, but for once it had not come out of his mouth. He glanced around the pitch black area; he had pulled his drapes.

Figuring that one of his roommates had been having a dream, Harry shut his eyes, begging for more sleep.

"Dad!" Came another shout and Harry's eyes shot open, worry worming its way through his body.

"What's all that shouting about?" Mumbled a grumpy Seamus as Harry pulled his drapes open and padded quickly over to his best friend's bed.

Ron was thrashing wildly; his face was screwed up in a grimace of pain and he was mumbling.

"Dad don't go! Dad!" He shouted again, before Harry started repeating Ron's name and shaking his shoulders gently.

"Ron. Mate wake up, its okay. You need to wake up." He whispered quietly as Ron began to rouse from his nightmare.

"'Arry?" He mumbled sleepily, wiping the beads of sweat off of his forehead.

Harry looked at his best friend and realised that Ron looked thinner than usual and he had dark bags under his eyes. Something was definitely wrong and Harry was ashamed that he hadn't noticed earlier.

"Want to go for a walk?" Harry said with a smile as he stood and put on an old robe, before throwing one of Ron's on to the redhead's bed, "put that on, we'll go to the kitchens."

Ron stood with slight hesitation before slipping his robe on and following Harry out of the dorm.

Once out, they headed straight down to the kitchens, not one of them saying a word. Harry wasn't quite sure what to do; Ron wasn't one to open up easily.

"So... what was all that about?" Harry prodded gently as the painting that was the opening for the kitchen came in to view.

Ron shook his head and looked at the ground glumly. His freckled face was paled and his hair stuck up in all directions, just like Harry's.

"Ron, I tell you everything." Growled Harry in frustration as he tickled the pear and the entrance to the kitchens appeared.

"You know that Order member that got killed when the Death Eaters came after you?" Ron mumbled reluctantly as the house elves shyly approached the two boys.

"Keith? Yeah, I know who you mean." Replied Harry, wondering what this was all getting at.

"It was supposed to be dad." Ron stated as he spun around and faced Harry, despair and guilt etched in to every crevice in Ron's face.

Harry merely tilted his head, quite confused as to what Ron was trying to say. Ignoring the many house elves that were starting to organise an assortment of biscuits around the table, Harry indicated for Ron to sit.

"I mean, I asked dad not to go on watch that night. I'm not entirely sure why, I just had this feeling. Nothing like Trelawney though." Ron whispered in a strangled and desperate voice.

Finally understanding dawned upon Harry. Now he realised why Ron had been so blustered in the hospital wing when they discussed Keith's death.

"Ron! It's not your fault at all! Keith joined the Order knowing the risks. Just because you stopped your dad going does not make it your fault!" Harry hissed sternly, selecting a chocolate biscuit before continuing, "It must have been fate that your father didn't go and Keith did, it was his time to go, not your dad's."

Ron looked slightly better and he took a biscuit from the plate in front of him.

"I guess so," he replied, "we better go back Harry, if one of the Professors catch us out of bed..." He faded out and shuddered at the amount of points Gryffindor would lose.

Harry agreed, quietly thanked the house elves and headed back up to the dormitory. He was extremely glad that they did not stumble across anyone on their way back.

A/N2 – I'm not sure if Harry new of Aberforth before Deathly Hallows, but can we please just assume he did so this chapter makes sense? Thank you. (: