AN: Hi everyone, sorry for the wait for this chapter. Once again, I wrote it all in one hit yay! I hope you enjoy and please read and review. Reviews keep me writing *wink wink nudge nudge* Enjoy xxx
Disclaimer: Do not own, not a witch, just a damn Muggle still waiting for their over due Hogwarts letter. Been waiting 19 years now, where's my owl?!
Snape turned over in his bed in his sleep and let out a peaceful sigh. It was the middle of the night and he was recovering from a full day of harvesting ingredients for his potions with Harry's help. The boy managed to push himself further into the greenhouse yet still remained close to the door. It was a small improvement but one Snape could work with. He was still touched by the bouquet of lilies Harry had given him and he put the framed picture of Lily on the bedside table next to him. A loud scream erupted from Harry's bedroom and Snape bolted upright in his bed. He reached for his wand on the table beside him but Harry had burst through the bedroom door before he could cast a Lumos spell.
"Potter, what in blazes?" Snape snapped but stopped in his tracks at the sight of the boy highlighted by the light in the hallway. He was heavily sweating and trembling so violently he looked as if he was under the Cruciatus curse. The brilliant green eyes...Lily's eyes...were dull, hollow and haunted and his skin was pale like old porridge. It was clear the teenager had been crying as the tear stains on his cheeks were still moist and more tears were pooling out of his tear ducts.
"Mr...Mr. Weasley's been attacked!" Harry blurted out as he tried to catch his breath. "I saw it...I...I did it! I attacked Mr. Weasley!"
"Potter, calm down," Snape said as he swung his legs over the bed and walked towards the boy. "You have not left this house; the wards would have alerted me. It was just a nightmare."
"No it wasn't!" Harry protested strongly. "It was so realistic, it definitely happened!"
"I'll get you a dreamless sleep potion," Snape said as he accioed the vial and caught it swiftly before holding it out towards Harry.
"No, I don't want it," Harry said, clearly frustrated that his teacher did not believe him. "We have to help Mr. Weasley, we have to go to the Ministry!"
"Did you fall out of bed and hit your head, knocking whatever little sense you have? Have you forgotten that we are wanted by the Ministry? It was just a dream, Potter. Now take your potion."
"No!"
"Don't argue with me, you little brat!"
"No! Mr. Weasley is dying! I attacked him!"
"And how can you be so sure?"
"I don't know. I saw it through my own eyes. I hissed and was level with the ground like a snake...now to think of it I probably was a snake. I struck him multiple times with my fangs and I felt gleeful doing it."
"A snake?"
Snape looked at Harry's face again and saw a small trickle of blood on his lip, as if he had bitten down on it. His lightning bolt scar looked redder than usual and the skin around it seemed inflamed. Loud footsteps thundered in the house and Snape pulled Harry towards him before tucking him behind his back as he readied his wand. A figure appeared at the door and Snape fired a spell and the figure dodged it.
"Really, Severus?" Dumbledore exclaimed after he cast a spell to light up the room.
"Merlin's sake, Albus!" Snape growled as he closed his eyes from the bright light and lowered his wand at the site of the headmaster. Harry peeked out from behind his teacher after buring his face in the man's back from the sudden burst of light and tried to move away but Snape held him firmly by the arm and kept him behind him.
"Have you heard? Arthur has just been attacked whilst on night patrol at the ministry," Dumbledore explained.
"What?" Snape gasped before he looked behind him at Harry, still blinking rapidly to focus his eyesight.
"I told you so!" Harry said clearly irritated and forced. "Professor Dumbledore, we have to help him."
"Easy, my boy, easy," Dumbledore soothed. "How did you know?"
"I saw it...or rather I did it," Harry explained, clearly glad that someone was listening to him.
"I don't understand, Harry. Did you see the attack through your eyes or were you in your vision?"
"I think I was the attacker. I'm positive that it was a snake."
Dumbledore froze then sighed and motioned both wizards into the living room. Once everyone was seated, Dumbledore waved his wand and he had a cup of hot tea whilst a mug of hot chocolate appeared in Harry's numb hands. Snape didn't touch his drink.
Dumbledore took a sip of tea before he cleared his throat. "Arthur has puncture wounds on his body equivalent to snake fangs." He then looked gravely at Harry.
"I was definitely a bloody snake!" Harry hollered. "I was slithering along the ground and looked to the side. I saw the snake reflection in a long black shiny wall."
Dumbledore leaned closer to Harry from his chair, almost falling out of it. "What did the snake look like, dear boy?"
Harry took a quick sip of his chocolate before replying. "I was very long, and a murky green. I had kinda diamond or square like patterns on me that were blackish. I think I was a python or a boa constrictor. I could hear a voice in my head, like it was giving me commands."
Snape looked at Harry intently...that snake sounded familiar...could it be?
"What did the voice say, Potter?" Snape demanded.
Harry looked at the Potions Master. "Well, it said something like find the prophecy and then when I saw Mr. Weasley the voice commanded me to attack. Then it said strike so I did, then it kept repeating again and again and again. I attacked like...four times."
Snape looked at Dumbledore who had paled.
"Arthur has four sets of puncture wounds, Severus. Harry, what was the voice like?"
Harry racked his brain. "It sounds stupid but...I am sure the voice was Voldemort."
Snape and Dumbledore sucked in a deep breath.
"Severus..." Dumbledore began.
"It was Nagini. Potter saw the mind of Nagini, the Dark Lord's pet snake," Snape said with concern. "There is a connection with your mind and the Dark Lord's."
"What? How can that be?" Harry asked shocked.
"It must have happened when Voldemort killed your parents all those years ago," Dumbledore decided. "We must close that connection. If Voldemort learns of it then we will all be in danger...Severus, you must teach him occlumency at once!"
"Occlu...what?" Harry asked.
"Occlumency, Potter. It is when one can read other minds and close off one's own. Albus, where is Arthur now?"
"He is at St Mungos," Dumbledore replied and stood up. "He is alive, but barely. Voldemort didn't manage to get it either."
"Thank goodness for that," Snape sighed in relief.
"Get what?" Harry said, angry that no one was explaining anything to him.
"None of your business, Potter."
"Severus," Dumbledore warned. "Get started on occlumency immediately, I will check on Arthur." Dumbledore then left the house.
"Get up, Potter," Snape commanded as he stood up himself.
"What's going on?"
"We must somehow close this connection between the minds and the best and dare I say...easiest way of doing that it occlumency. The Dark Lord is a master at reading minds and also inserting false visions to draw out enemies and even torture them. Such visions could be their worst nightmare, torturing of loved ones or even horrific images of one being skinned and burned alive."
"So he could drive me insane?" Harry asked, voice filled with worry.
Snape pursed his lips and used the tip of his wand to push aside Harry's hair to expose the infamous scar.
"The connection is strong and it is affecting your scar. I will give you a soothing balm and then we will work on your mind." Snape then retrieved a small purple jar of orange goop and spread it over the scar. "Now, you must clear your mind."
"How can I do that? I just saw my best friend's dad get attacked and I did it!"
"You did not attack Mr. Weasley, Potter. You merely saw into the mind of Nagini who was acting on the Dark Lord's commands. You will control your breathing and focus on nothing. Clear your mind and erase all sight and sound."
"Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The image of Mr. Weasley all bloodied and writhing around in pain on the cold floor was burned into his memory. He closed his eyes and raised his chin as if he could tip the memory from his mind. Suddenly there was a sharp thrust into his head and scenes flickered before him like a flip book; being chased by Dudley during Harry Hunting, cooking a chocolate and coconut soufflé, getting his first Hogwarts letter, being attacked by the mountain troll in his first year, seeing Lupin as a werewolf, drinking Polyjuice Potion...then all of a sudden he felt something being yanked from his head.
"What a poor attempt that was, Potter," Snape spat as Harry looked at him in hate and surprise.
"What the bloody hell was that?" Harry demanded. "You never said you were going to attack my mind!"
"I did not attack it. And I don't think the Dark Lord will ask for permission either. Your defences are pitiful and your mind is weak. I told you to clear your mind!"
"You didn't give me a chance!"
"Well make sure you tell the Dark Lord when to schedule a time for him to access your most powerful asset. You are an open book, Potter. You must clear your mind for your safety and the safety of others."
"How will it affect the safety of others if it is my mind?"
"He could see what you are seeing, he could see where we are hiding and attack us and don't think he will spare your Muggle friends either. He would see your friends in your mind and attack them to draw you out. This is why you must master your mind. It is powerful, and a very powerful weapon to defeat you."
Harry looked away in frustration and tried to burn the wooden floor with his eyes.
"See what I mean? You are angry and it is showing on your face. Heaven forbid if you ever try to play poker as your facial expressions will give your game away. And what was the deal with that Polyjuice Potion you and your friends were drinking?" Snape sneered.
"We had to brew it for something," Harry said.
"It is a forbidden potion which can only be found in my personal potions library or in the restricted section of the school's library. You need permission to access those types of books. So what idiot let you?"
"Lockhart," Harry said smugly. Snape almost hit the floor in disbeief at the answer.
"How in blazes did you manage to convince him to sign a paper?"
"Hermione asked for an autograph. He didn't even look at what he was writing on."
Snape rubbed a hand down his face at the idiocy of the man.
"So in actual fact we didn't break any rules to obtain the instructions," Harry said cheekily.
"In getting the book, no, you...followed the rules...for once. What did you need Polyjuice for?"
Harry paused. If he didn't tell Snape then he would just get his mind read. He didn't want to get Ron and Hermione into trouble but then again it was in the past, so he couldn't get in trouble for it now...could he?
"We wanted to interrogate Malfoy about the Chamber of Secrets," he confessed. He cringed as he waited for Hurricane Snape to hit an F5. The professor just looked dumbfounded.
"Why on earth would you interrogate Draco?"
"We thought he could have been the heir of Slytherin. He always strutted around and Muggle-Borns were in danger and he hated them so we thought we could find out if he knew anything about it. So we disguised ourselves as Crabbe and Goyle and entered the common room."
Snape rubbed his temples in frustration. That blasted boy had gotten into the Slytherin common room under his nose! He was lucky that Hermione brewed the potion perfectly due to the danger levels of it. That boy was so Slytherin!
"You are going to write an essay on the dangers and history of Polyjuice Potion tomorrow so you can understand how stupid and dangerous you little stunt was. It was incredibly foolish, you could have died or been left permanently disfigured, you stupid boy!" Snape hissed and Harry's shoulders slumped. "And who did Miss Granger impersonate?"
"Oh...uh her hair she collected was a cat."
"A CAT? See what I mean about the dangers, Potter? Enough of this, let's resume the lesson. Clear your mind and prepare yourself."
Harry looked at Snape and then once again felt his mind get invaded. Images of opening up gifts with Ron in his first year Christmas at Hogwarts, writing down notes in his first Potions class when Snape barked at him (was Snape's nose really that big?), his name being spat out of the Goblet of Fire, seeing Cedric Diggory's dead body in the graveyard.
"Get out!" Harry yelled and Snape withdrew, looking even paler than his already sallow skin. He saw the vision and was partway through retreating from Harry's mind when the boy gave an almighty shove the rest of the way. Harry was sweating and panting from exhaustion.
"How could you let me see that again? Isn't once in my life enough?" Harry said with dry sobs as he tried to control his emotions.
"I do not get to pick and choose what memories to see, Potter," Snape said firmly yet gently. "It was unfortunate that that particular memory surfaced. That is enough for tonight, you will not make any progress at this rate. Work on clearing your mind and we will continue these lessons. Remember, after breakfast you are to write that essay for me, then we will continue with occlumency afterwards."
He looked at the clock and saw that it was two in the morning. There was no way Harry would be able to sleep after seeing Cedric's corpse again. "Go to bed, I will be in shortly."
Harry made his way to his room as he tried to shake off the shock and finished off his hot (now cold) chocolate. He got under the covers when Snape returned carrying a vial.
"It is a Dreamless Sleep Potion, drink it and you will have a peaceful sleep," he said as he uncorked the bottle and handed it to the teenager. "We will continue tomorrow. Goodnight, Potter."
Harry downed the potion and Snape snatched it from his as Harry felt the effects of the potion happen at once. Snape poked the boy to see if he was truly asleep and once satisfied, he brushed his hair aside to see the scar and inspect how it was healing. It was still raw but not as bad as before. He applied more balm to it whilst Harry slept and then made his way to his bed. He grabbed a vial of Dreamless Sleep Potion for himself and got under the covers before drinking it. He almost spat it out.
"Damn it, Albus!" Snape growled as it still tasted like parsnip.