At long last! Chapter 8!! I'm so so very sorry this took so long to get out! I just finished up finals and then I had things to do immediately for my study abroad trip to Japan in June, so I didn't even have time to review!!! But I was still reading!! Will eventually get to reviewing people again.... When my brain gets back in motion enough to process what's been read.

Anyway... This chapter turned out a bit different than planned. It's very emotional. For the characters at least. Poor things... Anyway! No one really guessed what was what in the last chapter! Was disappointed, but ok with it.

Please excuse any spelling or grammar mistakes. Another reason this took so long is that I'm on my dad's computer which has a keyboard with a bad attitude. We hate each other. With a passion... I tried to fix the mistakes, but...

Enjoy!!!



Snape trudged along the maze corridor, his shoulders slumped and his face long. He wasn't aware of the amount of time that had passed since he had arrived, but he was quickly finding he no longer cared. He was tired, sore, wounded, hungry and long past thirsty. And the night still didn't show any signs of planning to end soon.

He stopped and leaned against the plant-covered stone wall, running a hand over his face and through his hair. His thoughts, already dark and despairing, turned to Harry once more. He'd never admit it, but he missed that boy. He shook himself to try to dispel the feeling of anguish and panic that seemed to seep up from his stomach and take hold of his heart with an iron grip.

What if the boy was truly dead? What if he'd broken the link in his fighting before he'd ever said word to Harry of his regret for his treatment of Harry? What if he'd lost one of the brightest students he'd had in years, the brightest possibly being (as much as he hated to admit it) Hermione? Why didn't he do more to protect the boy? He should have fought to keep the boy at school once he had him there, rather than fought to send him home to his "loving family."

Snape snorted at the thought of Harry's family as loving, anger clearing his mind of the anguish. A loving family wouldn't have locked the boy in a makeshift cell. A truly loving family would have asked after all the members of their family. Instead, they had disowned any relation to the boy, going so far as to say that the world was better off without "the freak." In Snape's opinion, they were the ones the world was better left without.

But then, their reaction only proved what a cold-hearted cretin he was. He always took it for granted that Harry was a wizard celebrity, the one to have saved them all from Voldemort's first reign of terror, he never thought it could be any different anywhere else. Unfortunately, it was and he had been so busy hating the Boy-Who-Lived that he had never seen how he had actually lived. Now it might be to late to change.

Snape sighed again and pushed off from the wall. He truly hoped he would get a second chance with Harry. He didn't know if he'd do any better this time, but he wanted to try. He doubted he'd get the chance though. He'd already had all his second chances this life, he doubted he was entitled to yet another.

But he still missed Harry, especially when these corridors grew as dark as they were. Everyone needs some light, even if they don't fully appreciate it.

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He laid there so pale, so silent. Where was the life he remembered? The determined sparkle of curious youth that used to brighten the emerald green orbs he had for eyes? It was all hidden behind closed lashes and still flesh, perhaps forever.

Sirius sighed as he brushed a strand of hair from Harry's face. He listened as footsteps clacked over to him, their step rhythmic and even, Remus's.

"Any change," Remus asked, his voice low and sad .

"No," Sirius told him, still not moving to look at him. "None."

Sirius jumped as he felt Remus's hand on his shoulder, but he still never glanced away from Harry's face. The hand gripped him tightly, as though trying to impart some of its deceptive strength.

"He's going to be alright," Remus told Sirius, sounding as though he were trying to convince himself as well. Remus ignored Sirius's snort and continued, "Dumbledore thinks he's found a way to strengthen the spell. He hopes to try again in a few hours. Maybe it'll work this time."

Sirius managed a nod, a slight bending and straightening of his neck, "I hope so."

"He will," Remus told Sirius, before his tell-tale steps took him over to a chair by the door.

Sirius brushed the stubborn, wayward lock of Harry's hair from his face. He watched the pale eyelids, hoping to see them flutter, even just a little bit. He picked up Harry's hand and held it tightly, before releasing it.

"Maybe..." Sirius said walking over to stand next to Remus, never looking up from the floor. "Maybe it would be kinder to just let him go."

Remus gasped, "Sirius! How..."

"It's true," Sirius continued calmly. "Who does he have here? No family, a godfather who might as be dead... And a madman who wants him dead."

"Sirius..." Remus said, disbelief evident in his voice. "You can't be serious! HE knows you love him and want to be with him! And he has the Weasley's! He was happy-"

"Happy," Sirius finally exclaimed, finally looking up at his old friend. His eyes were dark pools of unending sorrow and his face was pale and drawn with grief. "He was never happy with the Dursley's! And You-Know-Who might've taken the happiness he found in the wizarding world when he kidnapped him last term!"

Sirius took a breath, looking regretful at his friend's horror-filled face.

"As much as miss him and want him to just come back to me, to us, it might be better if he just slipped away quietly," Sirius told Remus, a tear rolling down his cheek and falling to soak into his robes. "The Dark Lord would never give him a chance to die so peacefully. This may be his last chance to simply rest in peace."

"Sirius..." Remus said, his heart breaking as the man before him gave into a sob.

Sirius dropped his head back down again and fought to contain his emotions again, but they would not be denied any longer. He gave up and raced out of the hospital ward, not even hearing Remus's desperate calls behind him.

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Harry grabbed it by the tail and soon wished he hadn't. The snake squirmed in his hands, attempting to free itself and hissing incomprehensibly.

"I'm sorry," Harry hissed at it, "but I need to help Snape and you're my only way back to him."

"Am I," questioned the snake, granting Harry a glare that was amazingly like Snape's own. "And why exactly would you want to help such a foul creature?"

"That's what the phoenix said," Harry answered. "And he's not foul. He's just...just..."

"Just...Just..." the snake replied sarcastically, "Just what? Misunderstood?"

"Yes," Harry told it, his eyes narrowing. "He's been misunderstood by everyone, except Dumbledore, I think."

The snake gave a hissing laugh, "We are all misunderstood somehow, child. Pain hides in the most unsuspected places. He does not need your pity, not when you have reason to be pitied as well."

"I don't pity him," Harry snapped. "And I don't need anyone's pity!"

"No," questioned the snake slyly. "You who have lived in a broom closet under the stairs all your life? You have no family, no true home? You whose friends and loved ones envy your fame and hope to gain a little of it by association?"

"That's not true," Harry told it, squeezing his eyes shut. "I'm loved..."

"Is that why you were being left to death," the snake asked. "We animals would not leave if our human counterparts were not leaving as well."

"They probably...probably think I'm dead or something," Harry whimpered.

"Are you sure," asked the snake, sensing victory.

A tear dripped out of Harry's eyes before the wet emeralds opened once more in determination, "There's only one way to find out. Take me back to Snape!"

The snake hissed in anger before twisting to bear its dripping fangs and bite deeply into Harry's arm. Harry screamed as darkness began to engulf him.

This time, though, the darkness was not complete. He could FEEL Snape and he could FEEL two more presences and knew that Snape was in mortal danger. Fear sliced through him as the darkness was finally completed and a phoenix smiled in a world of dreams.



Next Chapter: Lost in the Darkness