Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

Salazar watched silently as the man raged. He hadn't really believed Alec the time he had told him his professor would take it bad, but now he realised the teen had been right. The younger wizard was stalking around his room, cursing Potter and insulting everything he had ever known about the boy. Listening to the man, Salazar started to frown. Spoiled? He had spent enough time with Alec to know that he wasn't spoiled in the least, in fact, Rowena had showed him many of the memories from his childhood, and he didn't think there was anyone less spoiled than Harry. Arrogant? How could he be arrogant if the boy lacked complete self-confidence? Lazy? No, Salazar knew that Harry worked hard for those things that were really worth it.

The longer he listened, the more confused he came until he finally reached the only conclusion he could draw from the whole rant. Severus didn't know Harry at all, but he was comparing him to someone. Finally, as the Potions Master took a deep breath, the ghost spoke firmly.

"May I ask who you're talking about?"

Severus whirled around; he had forgotten the founder was still there. Trying to calm the rage consuming him, he scowled at the ghost calmly floating there. "Potter, of course, who else do you think I'm talking about you stupid..."

"Watch your tone! I'm not one of you students, and I still have enough magic to make you regret such remarks." Seeing the younger man step back slightly from him, Salazar continued. "You can't be talking about Harry."

The calm confidence coming from the ghost startled Severus for a moment until anger overpowered him again. "Of course I'm talking about Harry Bloody Potter! Thank Merlin there's no one as spoiled and arrogant and..."

Salazar cut his rant immediately. "For starters, Harry is not spoiled."

This time Severus spoke before the founder could continue. "How can you say that? With his relatives waiting at his beck and call, and the whole wizarding world placing him on a pedestal, how can you say he's not spoiled?"

Salazar frowned darkly down at him. "I didn't know that you considered being locked up, starved, and verbally abused as being spoiled, Severus. As for the regard the wizarding world has for him, it would be a burden to any child, especially one that has been raised to think he was nothing but a freak."

This time the silence was longer, but not by much. "Did the boy tell you all those lies?"

Salazar was slowly growing annoyed. "No, he didn't, I saw it in his mind. You really should start teaching your students how to protect themselves from mental attacks; it was ridiculously easy to see what I needed to know to deal with him."

Seeing he was going no where with those accusations and storing what the ghost had said in his mind, Severus started on some of the boy's other "faults". "He's arrogant, just as arrogant as his father!"

Salazar raised an eyebrow. "Please, don't be ridiculous, the kid has completely no self-confidence. And if you don't see it, then you either are blind or are just as stupid as all those people worshiping him for his name."

Severus looked insulted, but his subconscious was starting to nag at him. "He deceived me, he laughed at me!"

Salazar was starting to lose his patience at that point. "Yes, he deceived you, and everyone else under the headmaster's orders and because it was safer that way. You can't tell me you have never done the same, or are you going to tell me you tell everything that happens to the Dark Lord or to Dumbledore. As for laughing at you, that's rubbish; the kid has come to like you a lot, he enjoys spending time with you."

Snape shook his head, trying to dispel those words. "You're lying, Potter would never do something like that if it wasn't to make fun of me."

The ghost pressed his lips together, anger evident in his silvery eyes. "That's enough, if you can't get over your irrational anger at someone that's long dead then I'll have to help you."

Severus snapped his head up as the ghost appeared in front of him. "What...?"

Before he had a chance to finish his question, his eyes locked with the ones belonging to Salazar, and he felt his mind being torn open. As much as he tried to resist, the founder was much more powerful in this, and it barely took him a moment to enter his mind. Then images started to flash through him, images he knew didn't belong to him.

He saw himself in what had been Alec's room when he had first met him. He was reading one of his books, and he realised he was seeing himself from Harry's point of view. Sudden thoughts started to run through his mind.

'How am I supposed to act around him? As Harry, it's easy enough, he hates me, but how can I justify hating him as Alec?' after a short silence, the thoughts continued. 'Can I manage being civil to him? It would certainly reinforce my disguise since Harry Potter would never get along with Snape.'

Severus saw the image in his mind fade, if the situation had been different, he might have laughed, those thoughts had been positively Slytherin. Before he could comment, another image started.

It was the first time he had offered to play chess with Harry, while no words were coming, he could feel the surprise and amusement coming from the teen, and then, as the game progressed, he felt how relaxed and content the boy seemed. Had he really made him feel that way?

Image after image passed though his mind, showing how they had become closer. He saw how Alec really started to enjoy their time together, no longer doing it for the sake of his disguise but because he truly liked spending time with him.

He saw the time they had become closer, that cheeky remark that had solidified their friendship when he had accepted it. Severus was surprised at seeing how much the child seemed to understand him. There were few people that knew him as well as Harry seemed to do.

But there weren't only happy memories in there; he was deeply shocked at the anguish and fear he felt coming from Harry at the thought of him finding out. His heart started to break when he saw how accepting the teen seemed to be to the fact that the Professor would hate him the moment he discovered the truth. He finally understood the deep need he had sometimes sensed coming from the teen to spend time with him, as he was afraid that he would leave him.

Now at least he understood what the train incident had been about. He couldn't suppress his amusement at how the boy had manipulated him, but the deep sadness the impregnated those thoughts brought another crack at the hate he had been feeling a few minutes ago.

Slowly, the images faded, but not before he got a glimpse of some disturbing things, none of them related to him: a large man pushing a child roughly aside, only to yell at him after he had fallen to the ground. The same child running from what seemed to be bullies while other children laughed in amusement at the side. The child, now he realised it must be Harry, trying to mow the lawn when he didn't even reach the handle.

Those images quickly faded and he found himself back in his rooms. Salazar was floating in front of him, an annoyed glint still present in his eyes.

His feelings a complete mess, Severus let himself fall back into his couch and buried his head in his hands. What was he supposed to do now? He hated Potter, but the boy he had thought he knew was nothing like he really was. The only thing that really had become clear from all those images was that Alec was more like the real Harry Potter than his preconceived notions were.

Before he had the chance to speak, the soft voice coming from the ghost broke the tense silence. "Alec has given you a precious gift; he cares about you deeply, even if he knows that you're going to hurt him when you find out. I'm going to keep him with me until tomorrow. He's sleeping, and I see no point to wake him up right now. I'll bring him here just before breakfast, but if you can't get over your pointless hate, then please get someone to fetch him. It the least you can do for everything the child has given you." Salazar looked down at him intently. "If you come to your senses, I would appreciate it if you didn't mention what I've told you to anyone, not even Alec. The others don't need to know yet, and Alec doesn't need to doubt you now, when he needs your support."

Then with a soft pop, the ghost disappeared, leaving a pensive man behind him. Severus remained where his was for a long time, his mind trying to cope with the revelations that the last hours had brought. He needed to decide what to do but right now, he was at a loss. After a few more minutes, he remembered the other teachers, who were probably still looking for the boy. Using the floo connection, he looked into the teacher's room. Sprout was there, pacing around the room. When she noticed him, she hurried to him.

"Have you found him, Severus?"

The younger man nodded. "Yes, he's sleeping now. Can you send someone to Minerva? I better stay here with him."

The woman sighed in relieve. "Don't worry about it, Filius has already gone to the hospital. Let us know if you need something, Severus."

"I will, thank you."

With that, he broke the connection and turned to his potion stores. He needed to think, and he might as well try to do it without the headache that was right now trying to kill his brain.

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my wonderful beta, Vinnie.

To Moses and Danielle: I'm very sorry for not answering right away, but your review was cut short and I didn't get your e-mail, can you send it again so I can answer you properly, please? :)

To Ankha: 'Chuckles' hey, you guessed mostly right ;) and as always your reviews are very fun to read, I'll think about the Great Hall thingy, not a bad idea at all, even if I don't think Sev is going to need help in knowing that Harry cares about him. Happy writing to you too.