Chapter 24: Meanwhile, back at the lab . . .

"Harry?" Ginny sat down on the sofa next to her husband.

"Hum?" Harry had been staring at the tops of the trees in the tiny park across the street from 12 Grimmauld Place. "What is it, sweetheart?"

"Do you think, when our history changes, we'll still have our children?" Ginny looked genuinely worried.

"Oh, of course we will! Some events in our lives will change, but we know when we conceived each of them, so," Harry shrugged, then grinned and wiggled his eyebrows up and down, "We'll just make sure to repeat the process . . . should get the same kids and if they're even the slightest bit different, we'll still love them . . . they're our children, Ginny." Harry pulled his wife close and planted a kiss on the top of her head as she snuggled with him.

"I was thinking the same thing, Ginny," Hermione whispered, as Ron hugged her tighter.

"It'll all turn out just fine; stop worrying, 'mione," Ron tried to reassure her, but she could tell he was just as concerned as she.

Draco stood and went to the window, looked out at the quiet street and then turned to regard his friends.

"You lot should be fine. I'm the only one who might have a significant change. If Gregory lives, then Astoria will marry him, in all probability, which will be the way it should have been in the first place . . . she was his girl. Plus, I'm not about to try and lure her away from him . . . I may have been a git, back then, but I wouldn't do that to my best mate." He shrugged. "There will be a window of opportunity where I could meet someone else and still have a child around the same time as Scorpios was born . . . it's one of the risks we all had to take to do this. And I except that. We all have to accept that reality, everyone will have something that's not the same as before . . . maybe something won't be there at all!" Draco flopped down in the armchair he had been occupying for the last fifteen minutes. He glanced at his watch and raised an eyebrow. "We'll know for sure in another five minutes, in any case."

"Oh, dear, I have a bad feeling about this," whispered Ginny.

X X X

Harry and Professor Snape emerged from the fireplace in the Headmaster's office with a belch of green flames.

"Ah, good morning, Harry. Been enjoying your holiday?" Albus asked, as he put down his quill and focused on the young Wizard standing in front of his desk.

"Good morning, Headmaster! I've been having a grand time; talking with Dan, Rupert, Emma and Tom . . . it's just amazing the things I've picked up from them. Even growing up as a Muggle, their perspective of our world, from their standpoint, has been invaluable to our plans."

"Indeed. Minerva and I have been perusing the books we borrowed from Emma to get a few things planned for the defense of Hogwarts and to also stay one step ahead of Dolores in the next couple of months. Are you here to start your 'Occlumency' lessons with Professor Snape?" Albus turned to his Potions teacher, eyebrow raised.

"Correct, Headmaster. Harry and I are.. . . ."

"Excuse me, Professor Snape . . . could you not call me Harry?"

Harry had turned to Severus as he began to explain. "Not that I mind, but you shouldn't get too familiar with saying my name as opposed to the usual Potter. There's no reason for you to have suddenly changed your habit of sneering my name . . . it'll sound odd and you might slip and say Harry instead of Potter in front of Voldemort and there's no reason you could give to cover that goof."

"Indeed . . . .Potter . . . you have a valid point," admitted Severus, after a moment's pause.

"It seems you have given this some thought," Dumbledore added.

"Well, it's not that I mind him calling me Harry, it's more for his safety," Harry said to Albus then turned back to Severus. "After all this is over, feel free to call me anything you want . . . I answer to 'Boy who lived', "The Chosen One', 'Super Seeker' . . . take your pick." Harry gave Severus a cheeky grin, then turned and winked at Albus. "Well, we're off to the dungeons to get started, Headmaster . . . see you at lunch?"

"Certainly, Harry," laughed Dumbledore, watching the waves of reaction to Harry's display of insubordination flash across Severus' face. "Chop, chop, Severus . . . time's a wasting!"

"Yes. Certainly, Headmaster," Snape managed to say, valiantly trying to hide a smile, as he turned toward the door, to follow Harry who was quickly disappearing down the spiral stairs. "Cheeky little blighter." he mumbled, shaking his head.

"I heard that!" drifted back up the stairs.

X X X

In the corridor below, Harry and Severus fell into step with each other and started off to the dungeon in silence. Suddenly, Peeves came zooming along and proceeded to float, upside-down, in front of them.

"Wee Potter is at Hogwarts!? Has Wee Potter been a bad little Wizard? Is Wee Potter going to be punished?!" he cackled, grinning manically.

"Actually, Peeves, I have a bit of good news for you," Harry replied, even as he reached out and grasped Severus' sleeve to keep him from yelling at the troublesome poltergeist.

"Good news? News that Peeves will find amusing?" questioned the ghost, as he flipped over and looked with interest at the young Wizard.

"Indeed . . . you will be a big part of a surprise for our esteemed Professor of the Defense Against Dark Arts," Harry leaned forward and stage whispered, and then winked. "What you need to do is talk with Fred and George Weasley, when they get back from holiday and they will let you in on their plans and discuss how you can help."

Peeves looked from Harry to Professor Snape, puzzled at Severus' silence.

"Professor Snappy is not saying anything . . . does he not object to these plans?" Peeves questioned, warily.

"Actually, Peeves, I have made a few suggestions, in regards to the coming mayhem . . . but you didn't hear that from my lips," replied Severus, who then held up a finger to his lips, indicating silence.

Peeves eyes flew wide open and then he cackled, spinning around, clapping and doing flips.

"I think he's 'onboard with the program', as Rupert would say," Harry mumbled out of the side of his mouth to Severus.

"Apparently," agreed Severus. "Perhaps we can continue on our way, now?"

"See you later, Peeves!" called Harry, as Snape and he turned the corner and started down the stairs to the Potions classroom.

Peeves waved and zoomed off down the hallway, singing, "Peeves knows a secret . . . and he'll never tell . . . Peeves knows a secret . . . we'll give Dolores . . . hello there Filchy, what are you doing, eh?"

"Get out of it, Peeves!" yelled Mr. Filch, swinging his broom, even as Mrs. Norris yowled her displeasure when Peeves zoomed down, pulled her tail and then flew away, bowing raspberries!

X X X

As they entered the Potions classroom, Harry was surprised to see Severus continue to walk, past the desks and work tables, to a narrow door recessed in a niche in the back wall. Opening it, Snape motioned for Harry to follow him into the next room. Intrigued, the boy entered what was obviously the private laboratory of the Potions Master.

Taking a quick look around, he saw the gently simmering cauldrons, with what he assumed, correctly, was the supply of 'Felix Felicis' Severus had been tasked with brewing. While Harry was perusing the room, Severus stepped over to the cauldrons and checked on the progress of the potion. Nodding to himself that all seemed to be well, he turned and addressed 'The Boy Who Lived', a slight smile playing on his face.

"I have to tend to this potion for a few minutes and considering that you've never been in this room, Potter, why don't you enlighten yourself by carefully read the labels and make note of any you've never heard of before." Severus waved his hand, indicating the vast selection of jars, bottles and packets lined up on the shelves. "But, do not touch anything."

"Right," Harry nodded.

As Snape walked from one cauldron to another, he continued. "No students, of mine at least, have ever set foot in this room. Horace Slughorn probably allowed members of his 'Club' entry, but I have not deemed it prudent, until now."

"In that case, Professor, I'll be very careful," replied Harry, as he put his hands behind his back, before turning to the first set of bottles. He'd had a thought and as he walked over and started looking down the long lines of bottles, he smiled inwardly, waiting.

Sure enough, about half-way down the first row, he felt a small 'nudge' in his thoughts, almost as if he was second guessing what he'd seen. He re-read the label and then mentally thought, 'That's what I thought it said'. Snape give a small snort, but Harry didn't make any indication he was aware of the sound. Moving on, he felt another 'thought' intruding into his brain, suggesting he 'ask for some parchment'.

Stopping, he turned and looked around, his eyes landing on a few small pieces of parchment sitting on the work table. He saw Snape out of the corner of his eye, watching to see what he'd do, a scowl on his face. Harry turned back to the bottles, but in his mind he thought 'ah, there's some scraps if I need them'.

Concentrating, he started looking at the labels on the next row of bottles, but after a few moments, he felt as if someone was looking over his shoulder, mentally, trying to see past what he was reading and trying to 'listen in' on his thoughts. Harry deliberately made his mind think only of the ingredients he was seeing and wondered which potions they might be used in or where they had been gathered. He fought hard to keep from drifting off into any of his memories, or thinking of anything but the potions lab. When he felt himself losing control he turned to Severus.

"Professor?" he asked. "Sorry to interrupt, but what are 'Sook paddles'?"

Severus didn't look up from the potion he was stirring, but pointed and said, "Parchment, Potter."

"Oh, right. Sorry" Picking up a small square, he took a pen, that Emma had given him, from his pocket and wrote down the name, with a question mark and source underlined. Next, he turned to a group of dried ingredients . . . all familiar names, but he knew them to be rare, to say the least. 'Bet these cost Severus a bit of the ready!' He was rewarded with another small snort from his teacher.

Careful not to dwell on knowing Severus was 'sneaking around' in his mind, Harry let his mind drift off to thoughts of Knockturn Alley and his accidentally landing in Borgin and Burkes in his second year. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Severus' jaw twitch. So he decided to surprise him. 'Not one of your favorite establishments, eh, Severus?' he thought, with wicked glee.

Snape whirled around and stared at him, open mouthed. "How long have you know I was listening to your thoughts, Potter?" he hissed.

"From the start, sir. I was thinking you might take advantage of me being distracted by reading all these labels and see what you could find," Harry replied, pointing to his head. "It just felt like I was 'multitasking thoughts', but it also felt a bit like you were looking over my shoulder, mentally. Not unpleasant and if I hadn't been aware of your ability to do so, would have never know the difference."

"I see. Well, this is totally different than what I expected and it shows how wrong I was, trying to teach you with my other method. I apologize for that, Potter," said Severus, sitting down on one of the stools.

"No need, sir, as it never happened." Harry waved a hand, to show it was not a concern.

"Thank you, Potter," replied Severus. "You're very adept, without any training. . . perhaps it's a natural talent that wasn't discovered."

"Ah, well, Dan and I were talking about just that, sir, and it seems we have all missed the point a bit. . . Voldemort is not using Legilimency on me, to get into my thoughts; it's his connection to me because I'm one of his Horcruxes. Same reason I can talk with snakes; it's his talent, I just get to be a Parseltongue, as long as part of him is alive in me. The good news is . . . he doesn't realize this as he doesn't know I'm a Horcrux."

"I believe you are correct in that bit of reasoning; he's not making eye contact with you, he's not even anywhere near Hogwarts. The Dark Lord honestly thinks it's the spell of Magical protection that Lily put on you, when he was coming to kill you, that has connected you two all this time."

"Exactly what Dan said, and I, for one, am not going to tell him any differently, but that is why I do need to get good at burying all this new knowledge I've been handed over the last few days." Harry looked at Severus and sat up straighter. "So . . . where do we go from here? I need to know how to block out his attempts at rummaging through my memories."

"You did fairly well against my intrusion."

"Only because I knew you were there, sir. If I am truly distracted, I need to know how to do an 'emergency'. " Harry used his fingers to do a quotation sign. "Shut down, to hide anything he could find useful."

"Alright, let's try this . . . "

X X X

Lunch found everyone in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, having spent the morning going through the movies, looking at key scenes and comparing them to the matching chapter in the books. Kreacher was floating a big tureen of stew onto the table, while everyone passed a basket full of hot, crusty rolls.

"That stew smells . . . wonderful," exclaimed Rupert, as the huge white bowl floated past him to land, with a thump, in the middle of the table in front of Molly, who began ladling the steaming concoction into bowls and handing them over, to be passed around.

"Thank you, Mr. Rupert, sir, Kreacher is hoping you is going to think it tastes good, too."

"I'm sure it will be splendid, Kreacher," said Emma, bestowing a smile on the ancient House Elf. "Everything you have served us has been absolutely mouthwatering."

"Oh, thank you, Miss." This praise from the pretty Muggle made Kreacher blush and hustle back to tend to the dessert, which being prepared on the sideboard.

"Wonder how Harry is doing?" Tom asked, while buttering his roll.

"If Severus tries a different method, I think he'll do splendidly," answered Dan. "Those two work well together, now that they really understand the whole story of how they are connected."

"Speaking of the whole story," Hermione said, looking around the table. "What do you think will happen when you all go back tomorrow? Do you have any worries?"

"Not really," Tom replied. "Draco was sure we'd be able to set you all on the right path and when we do go back, he's got something rigged where we won't remember any of this, so we'll be right back where we started . . . none the wiser and living our lives just as we were when Harry and company showed up on Dan's doorstep."

"But, won't you want to know if it worked?" persisted Hermione.

"Oh, we'll get the details and then we'll get put back in time where we belong. It's hard to explain, but . . . Draco says it'll all be just fine, in the end."