A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update, and I know that Snape is calling Harry by his first name. Snape's kind of slipping in and out of kindness. When he feels nice, he calls Harry by his first name, but when he feels not so kind, he calls Harry by his last name. Well, you get the picture. Anyway, here's another chapter…enjoy!
Oh, Sirius and/or Remus fans out there: you may not enjoy this chapter quite so much…
Hidden Visions, Hidden Truth: Chapter 3
Snape stared in disbelief. What could possibly make this day any worse? "What?"
There was increasingly fore longed silence. "It seems that Voldemort paid Remus and Sirius a visit. Remus sent an owl to me at the last minute, but it was no use. Sirius tried getting out of the house in Animagi form, but sadly—"
Snape held up his hand. "Don't tell me…"
"Remus and Sirius are dead."
Snape quietly nodded. Remus and Sirius? His two life long rivals were—dead? What was the point of telling Harry? He knew if he did tell Harry, he would just do something dramatic. "Now where will Harry go to? Whom will he live with?"
Dumbledore smiled sheepishly. "You, see, Snape, that's where you come in. Remus told me in his letter that if anything should happen to him and Sirius, that you were appointed as a second godfather."
Snape was hit hard by this comment. "Surely, you don't expect me to watch over this boy. He's a menace. A threat to society. He gives wizards a bad name."
Dumbledore stood there transfixed upon what Snape had said. "You," he began, "treat him like some sort of cockroach that crawled into your lunch. I think I've stated this before, but Harry is not James Potter, nor acts and looks like him." His mouth thinned. "What if Lily heard what you said about her own flesh and blood?" He stormed off, while Snape thought about what Dunmbledore just said.
Harry woke up to the sound of footsteps echoing in the corridor, faintly getting closer and closer. He opened his eyes part way and tried to see who was walking, but everything was too blurry. He reached for his glasses, and slid them onto his face while sitting up. He looked around the hospital room and searched for any signs of life.
"Hello!" he called out. Silence filled the air, followed by the buzz of a fly. It was quiet. Too quiet. He swung his legs over the sheets and got up out of bed. His legs felt like some one had just used the Jelly-Legs curse on him.
The door banged open and hit the wall, causing a portrait of a nurse to fall down and hit the floor, breaking into huge pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Harry half-expected Uncle Vernon, the other part of him half-expected a Professor.
"Potter," a cold voice filled the room. "I see that you are out of bed. Ten points off Gryffindor."
Harry realized that it was Professor Snape and quickly got back into bed. "H—hello, Professor Snape. Did you go shopping at Diagon Alley for me?" He asked with interest as he noticed a few bags Snape was carrying.
Snape entered the room, pausing to look at Harry. "Indeed, I did. You're really taking Divination class?" He asked as he sat the bags down on the floor.
Harry felt his face go red. "Um…yeah, I am. Professor Trelawny keeps on predicting my death."
"Ah, that's her welcoming of Harry Potter? I think I should've used that on you as well."
Harry fumbled around with his bed sheets. "Um…did you---I mean, have you heard from Sirius yet?"
Snape looked down at the ground. Well, better now than never, he thought worriedly. "The Dark Lord, he paid Remus and Sirius a visit and well---"
"They're dead," Harry guessed.
Snape nodded. "They appointed me as a second godfather."
Harry's mind went blank. His whole world fell apart just at the thought of it, and he closed his eyes. "No," he muttered under his breath. "This can't be happening."
Snape could hear what Harry was muttering, and he felt sorry for him. At first, he felt like telling Harry that everything would be okay, and that he would watch over him, but he couldn't bring himself to do that. "Harry…listen." Snape surprised even himself as he spoke the two words. Never as he ever called Potter Harry.
Harry shook his head. "No, no more listening. Everything you say is a lie…Remus and Sirius aren't dead." Then, he added forcefully, "They aren't."
"They are, and you have to accept the facts of the truth," Snape said bitterly. He wasn't going to waste his time trying to convince Harry to accept the truth.
"I'll die before I ever accept the truth, and I will."
"You can't run from the truth, Potter, and you know that."
"No, I can run from the truth." But even Harry knew, it was real. Sirius and Remus were dead, and he felt even more grieved thinking about it. "What's going to happen to me?" He said, his voice uneasy. He opened his eyes, and looked to Snape. "Now that I can't go back to my Uncle's house, and now that Sirius and Remus is gone, where am I going to live?"
Snape inhaled sharply. He hated thinking about the thought of it, but it bothered him even more seeing Harry like this. "Dumbledore has given me strict orders that you live with me, at least until we can find a permanent home for you."
"Can't I live here?" Harry asked as it crossed his mind. "Can't I live with Ron, or Hermoine?"
"I'm afraid not, Potter. Hogwarts isn't a save enough place for you, and I'm sure Mrs. Weasley can't afford to pay for more books in the near future."
Harry frowned. "I have my own money," he commented, but Snape ignored him.
"These visions you're having are like a tracking device. Each time you have the visions, the Dark Lord can sense where you are, and he'll find you," Snape explained in a low voice. "The only safe place where you can live is my house. The Dark Lord can't get past his own Deatheaters' houses."
"But aren't you a former Deatheater?" Harry asked, frowning even more.
Snape sighed, and glared at Harry. "Potter, might I explain what he does to a former Deatheater when he finds out that one of them is hiding the Boy-Who-Lived, you would just be more terrified."
"So, he can enter your house?" Harry asked, growing slightly worried at the fact that Voldemort could be able to enter Snape's house.
"That's what the Protection Spell is used for, Potter."
"But isn't a Protection Spell used to protect someone?"
Snape looked at Harry, disbelieving what he just heard. "Potter, what spell did I cast on the house?"
"A Protection Spell," Harry answered.
"So, why am I bringing you to my house?"
"Because then I'll be inside the house, which has a Protection Spell cast on it, and the house will be protected, along with the people who are inside it…" Harry gasped. "I think I get it."
Snape grinned slightly. "Good, because we're leaving first thing tomorrow morning."
