Hey everyone,

Wow, just like with Destiny's Saying, I haven't touched this story in two years. I knew that I have been focused on both my own favorite stories and new ones for some time.

But I genuinely had no idea that it had taken this long. Yet at the same time I can say that I have been working on editing this story from time to time, so it's not like I've really abandoned the story all-together. Then again, I hardly ever really abandon stuff.

Anyway, moving on,

Venquine1990

Chapter 54

Balance And Consequences

15th of August 1995

Potter Place, England

Harry's POV

I don't know if anyone knows about it, but even while I am not part of the arena group, I still want to listen along. And so, while Lea joined me in the bedroom and while we went to cuddle on the bed, I called on a House Elf and asked them to get me a pair of Extendable ears. After this I had asked them to make the long thin string invisible and leave one end inside the arena.

Thanks to this I was able to hear the whole chapter.

I heard about the memory that was being watched.

I heard Sora's suggestion to get me to forgive mum and mum refusing to go along with it.

I heard dad admitting to being Snape's motivation and Riku arguing that it was still Snape's choice.

I heard about how this was before mum and dad got together, but after dad's birthday and after he got into his Veela heritage.

And most importantly, I heard mum admit that he doesn't want me to forgive him, that he wants me to accept what happened and that he doesn't believe he can do it himself. This last bit has me feeling a mix of various emotions.

I feel slightly touched that, after only a few days of the man being in my life, he already knows me well enough to know much this bothers me.

On the other hand I feel annoyed that the man doesn't even seem to want to try it himself, that he is relying on others to help him with this.

"But isn't that exactly why your brother is calling his friends over from the other timeline? To help you with problems you just can't solve for yourself? And is it really that bad to have family help family get together?"

These thoughts run through my mind while I whisper for the House Elf to tuck the Ears back where they were found.

"I don't know about you, love, but it really sounded as if this was one of those times that your mum did regret, one of those times he would have done different if given the chance, like he told you." Lea gently tells me while he runs his hand through my hair.

I sigh and move so that I am lying down on the bed beside him, but still with his arm around my form as I ask: "What do you think, Lea? Do you agree with what Riku said? Should I just –." Lea puts a finger on my lips and says:

"The only one who can decide what you want or should do about this is you, love. But yes, I do think that Riku is right.

Also, even if your parents led Snape to becoming a Death Eater, they did not lead him to becoming an abusive and horribly antagonizing teacher. That, more than anything, was entirely his own decision and you need to keep that memorized."

I sigh as I definitely, to some level, agree with my beloved redhead. Lea pulls his arm free and moves over to the windows of my room. I twist myself on the bed to keep an eye on him and he says:

"And next to that, what your parents did – that's a bit tame compared to what Snape's pulling on you these days.

It really is just childish bullying and even then – it wasn't half as bad as the vocal bullying you got from Dudley a few days ago." My eyes widen at his words as I can hardly believe it.

But Lea's right.

Lea looks back at me as he says this last bit, but then shrugs and looks back outside again as he says: "And next to that, I know that the memory got cut off where it did, but – even if I were to imagine your mum like that – I can't see him actually doing what he said he would do. I truly don't believe he pulled Snape's pants that day."

"Do I want to know how you already know about that?"

Another voice asks from the other side of the room and we both turn to look. Andy stands in the doorway with a raised eyebrow and one hand on her hip as well as an amused and curious grin on her face as she looks at us.

Lea shrugs and, after he sends me a quick look to ask my permission, he answers: "Harry got help from his mates. Just ask the twins later, they'll understand." The woman nods and I can't help but ask if mum is with her.

Andy nods and says that mum is waiting in the hallway for permission to be let in. I sigh, but motion with my head that she can let mum come in with her. Andy and Lea smile in pride at me over this and the two adults enter the room.

"We heard everything.

Ask the twins."

Mum looks a little startled to hear this, but he just silently nods nonetheless. Andy sighs, yet before she can start fulfilling the role mum asked her to play in this problem, I turn to mum and ask him: "Did you? Did you pull Snape's pants down that night?" And to my utter relief, the man smiles at me and answers the answer I want to hear.

"No."

And just that one worded answer makes me feel so much better as I can almost hear the rest of the unsaid answer. No, I didn't. I would have never gone that far. And combined with the two things that Lea helped me realize, this all helps make it much easier for me to accept all of this.

"Harry dear, I will never state that what your parents did when they were your age was okay or even acceptable. They were in the wrong and they themselves have been admitting this for years, even if it's only to themselves. However, there are two things I would like to point out."

I wonder if they are the same things that Lea helped me realize and so I nod to indicate that I'm listening. Andy smiles and then mum asks if he can join me on the bed. I sit up and nod again. And while mum happily goes to sit on my left while Lea comes to sit on my right. And while Andy goes to sit on the other end of the bed, she starts her explanation:

"First of all, and this might not be an easy one for you, but I have learned this to be true ever since I started studying to be a Mind Healer. The teenage years are the time where a human being is most likely to make the biggest mistakes of their lives. And by doing so, they shape themselves as the person they will be later in life.

Your mother was a bully who saw the error of his ways and became a fighter for justice and who also became a parent that would strive to ensure his children would never turn out like him. Whereas Snape, who was also a bully at the time, became someone who uses the faults of the others to mask his own mistakes or even use them as excuses.

Your mother is old and wise enough to admit that he was in the wrong.

Snape is still in his teenage mind and refuses to admit that he ever did anything wrong."

I grimace at this as I feel very conflicted about this part of the explanation. Yet then Andy smirks at me and says: "And besides, you can't tell me that you haven't yet done something that you deeply regret and that you know you will regret even when you have kids of your own."

My face heats up and turns beetroot red at the insinuation. At the same time I can't help but think: "I know I did and yet, I feel sure that I will soon as well. I just –." Here I falter in my thoughts and instead I whisper:

"Something tells me I am going to make one such mistake sometime soon – in the books."

The trio around me grimaces and Lea whispers that we will face that challenge when we get there. I nod at him and ask Andy what her other point is. The woman gives me a gentle smile and says: "This one won't be any easier for you to accept, Harry, but it is very much the truth.

Regardless of what your mother might have done when he was a teen, there is still a huge balance difference between what he did – and what Snape did." I frown at this and want to argue her words, but the woman continues:

"Your mother bullied, Snape tortured.

Your mother laughed in Snape's face, Snape ripped people's eyes out.

Your mother made jokes at Snape's expense, Snape ripped entire families apart.

Even if your mother was the reason Snape joined the Death Eaters, what he did as a Death Eater was still by his own choice and his own volition.

And most importantly is one thing.

Snape is a Master in Occlumency, but he is still a man with a traumatized mind. And I know, Harry, I know that Hogwarts always offers mental health care to its staff. I myself was there when Dumbledore offered this to Snape – and he refused.

Of his own choice,

Of his own volition.

He chose to carry these traumas with him and let them shape him into the man he is today. He made that choice after your parents were locked away and all was said and done. Snape has been wasting the chance that Karma gave him these past 14 years and that, Harry, washis choice. I'm not saying that what your mother did was right, I'm saying that what Snape is still doing – is just as wrong.

Can you accept that?"

I sigh and lean back against the headboard with my arms crossed. Deep down inside, I already feel that I have accepted this. Yet for reasons I just cannot understand, my mind keeps whispering He's just like Dudley. He's just like Vernon. He's just like Snape. He's just like Malfoy. Over and over again.

I shake my head violently to try and get rid of these thoughts and clutch my head between my hands. Lea and mum both call out to me and mum asks what's wrong. From between my fingers, I notice Andy pulling her wand and she waves it at me before she says:

"I don't get it. He's completely clean. No potions or spell work, but – I can tell that his mind seems to be fighting his heart or something." At this mum pulls my hands from my face and turns my face his way as he says three words.

"Close your Heart."

Instantly I follow orders. I close my eyes and pull myself deep within my core and being, just like Riku taught me. Yet again I feel as if I am standing on a stained glass platform with the myriad of colors and lights surrounding me.

One at a time I grab the lights and put them within boxes within the stained glass. Slowly but surely I feel myself, both mentally and emotionally, calming down. Then I hear it again. The voice that whispers these same lines over and over.

I turn to it and notice that it's a blotch of dark blue light with hints of red, hazel and light brown. Instantly I understand why it was so hard for me to ignore the voice before. Yet while I don't let the red anger I put away earlier leave its spot, I growl:

"You're dead, both of you.

You're no longer welcome here."

And even though I'm but an illusion in my own heart – or something – my Keyblade appears within my hand. This changes the angry frown into a small grin and with a mighty swipe of my arm, I force the blotch of colors out of my heart – and mind.

I can still see a few other blotches and spots of different colored lights around me, yet I don't feel like dealing with them right now. Instead I focus outwards once again. And when I feel like I am back in my own conscious body, I look up and ask:

"I guess there are after effects to the Heartstamp spell, even after it's been removed, huh?"

The woman looks shocked, but then sighs and says: "Yes. Yes indeed. Even if one is clean of the spell, they can still hear voices that sound similar to the ones that cast the spell or be gullible to the beliefs that were imprinted upon them by the spell. The spell might be removed, but getting rid of the mental and emotional effects always takes time."

I nod in agreement to this and mutter: "Then it's a good thing that Riku taught me this new technique, that I managed to calm my heart down after that first burst and that Sora helped me get the Keyblade. The combination helped me get inner peace, I guess you can say."

I then turn to mum and honestly state: "I don't think I will ever be able to accept the person you were, mum. It reminds me too much of Dudley, even if I know you would never do what Dudley did a few weeks ago."

The man grimaces, but then I cuddle into his form and say: "But I can accept who you are today. And that's what matters. I don't want to be like Snape. I don't want to be stuck on the past. The present is too precious to me to want that."

And instantly the man hugs me tightly to himself.

Okay, that happened,

To be honest, I was originally planning to have this chapter be about both Harry's talk with Andy and his mum as well as the chapter about Career Day and McGonagall ripping Umbridge a new one. But the whole conversation just got a life of its own and I felt so wholesome at the end, I felt like I would tarnish the chapter if I continued with OotP in this one.

So next chapter,

Venquine1990