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Harry Potter and the Black Unicorn (part 6)- Memories
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Dinner seemed to float by for Harry, he'd spent the whole time thinking about the Defence against the Dark Arts lesson and the upcoming private lesson with Hidellbank. Hermione and Ron hadn't seemed to notice amazingly much though, ever that or they both decided not to comment. Anyway, they seemed to busy deep in conversation with each other to notice. Harry had noticed that they'd been very friendly since they'd returned to Hogwarts and after some of last years 'moments' Harry was convinced they liked each other. Neither would say anything about it of course, but he could tell. Ron had been too angry about Krum in year four and she had been to angry that he hadn't asked her to the ball first.
Hermione's eye's flickered slightly and she blushed, Harry had no idea why, he hadn't been listening, but that was a just another sign of her feelings as far as he was concerned.
"We should go really, everyone else is" Ron was saying as Harry tried to get back into the conversation.
"Yeeeeaaah" said Hermione, her voice was almost lazy.
"Yeah" repeated Harry, but in a normal, non 'oh Ron' kind of way.
"You've got your lesson in 20 minutes Harry" said Hermione, "I hadn't realised we'd been in here for that long"
Harry glanced round the great hall and realised it was virtually empty apart from them and a few Hufflepuffs.
They stood up and headed back to the common room so Harry could get a jumper as it was fairly cold inside the castle.
"What are you going to do whilst I'm gone?" he asked politely, although he wanted to add 'flirt' to the end of the sentence.
"Oh, I think I'm going to make him look through that book with me" said Hermione "either that or go for a walk...then look at the book"
Harry glanced at Ron so he could read his expression but Ron simply shrugged at him. Obviously he didn't mind what they did thought Harry, although Ron was probably interested about the book due to the topic.
"Well," said Harry, clasping his hands together "To the Dark Arts class room"
The other two said goodbye to him, as did Fred and George who were sitting near bye planning something. Probably something to do with their joke company Harry thought, he hoped it was going well after giving them all that money last term after the - he decided he didn't want to think about it, he'd been doing well blocking that bit of last year out of his head. He closed his eyes to regain his composure then made his way to the classroom.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Harry was a little early again for his lesson and this time he found himself alone in the room until the Professor turned up a few minutes later.
"Evening" she said, her voice was friendly, he couldn't help but notice every time he spoke to her, it was almost relaxing.
"So Mr Potter, due to the fact you cant really practice on anyone I've brought us something to help." She pointed at a large teddy bear on the desk. Harry's eyebrows must of shot up because she laughed.
"Don't look at it like that Harry! It's enchanted, so it reacts like a human would to whatever you do to it. Well...I wouldn't know about most things...reacts to spells though"
Harry raised his eyebrows again at the last comment; you could tell she was young compared to the other teachers.
"Right Mr Potter" She said, humour in her voice, "you're going to make that teddy immobilised, don't care how, whatever way you know"
Harry wanted to tell her it was a teddy, and therefore already immobilised, but he bit the comment back.
"Petrificus Totalus" he said, and the teddy froze.
"Excellent" said Hidellbank, "that's the simple one I'd use. However, Death Eater's are more difficult to deal with sometimes. So, I want you to try this one, you say Endus Totalus"
Harry tried it on the Bear and well, it didn't move...although it wasn't moving anyway. Hidellbank pocked the teddy and it didn't move at all. She turned and nodded, looking pleased with him.
"Right, now I'm going to teach you a really powerful spell that pushes people back. You'll be doing easy stuff in the other lessons, I might as well show you the harder stuff because I think you can manage it."
So, after half an hour perfecting his technique at this spell the Professor said that was enough practice.
"Right, do you want to do 10 minutes of hex practicing, just to keep you on your feet"
Another 10 minutes later and she'd shown him three new hexes as well as allowing him to practice some older ones.
"Anything else you want to do tonight Harry?" she asked him. Before he got a chance to answer however the door opened.
"Professor Snape" she said warmly, "come in"
"I was going to anyway," he answered curtly. he walked over to the two of them and looked at the teddy.
"I take it no one agreed to be Potter's rag doll?" he asked, giving the bear a contemptuous look.
"The bear did" she replied sarcastically. Harry smiled at the comment and looked up at Snape, waiting for a reaction but none came.
"Oh for gods sake, hex me Potter" Snape muttered, and walked towards were the bear was.
"P...pardon" stuttered Harry.
"Hex me, you need practice on a real person too" explained Snape, his voice lost none of its edge though.
Harry nodded and tried out one of the new hexes on Snape and grimaced when Snape went down in pain.
"Excellent" came a muffled voice from the floor, and Snape stood up again, "Next"
Two new hexes later and Snape looked rather pained. He pulled himself up of the floor using a desk and flexed his muscles to relieve the aching.
"Right, now then Harry, have you tried the Imperius curse, it can come in useful when fighting more than one death eater as it can take some out of the picture when your fighting them. Just make them sleep or cartwheel or something."
Harry looked at Snape like he was mad but Snape didn't move from the spot.
"Erm...no, but i can try" he said, a hint of nerves in his voice.
"Good" muttered Snape "Just don't make me do anything to stupid Potter"
Harry nodded and raised his wand at Snape and shouted "Imperio!"
There was silence and Snape just stood there like he was in a trance. Harry racked his brain for something to make Snape do and then he hit something.
Sure enough Snape stepped foreword and put his hand on his heart,
"I Serverus Snape would like to admit that although Harry Potter annoys me something rotten he's not really that bad...you little Gryffindor bugger you"
The last bit sounded forced, obviously Snape was fighting it.
Hidellbank flicked her wand next to him and Snape returned to normal.
"You did well fighting that Snape" she said calmly, "his magic is strong"
Snape merely nodded and turned to Harry and stared at him. It made Harry uneasy when Snape didn't look away. He raised his eyes at Snape, a gesture he hoped would either make Snape look away or at least say something. It seemed to have the desired effect.
"Its just past nine" he said, looking now at Hidellbank.
"Yes, yes" she muttered, "we'll call it a day. Well done Harry"
With that she gave Harry a pleasant smile and walked out. Harry was left standing there alone with Snape. Before this year he may have found that a completely horrifying idea, but now it was only mildly scary.
"I expected you to make me dance or something Potter" Snape said coolly. He had now resumed staring at Harry.
"Well you said nothing to embarrassing" Harry said calmly, staring back at the potions master. Harry didn't know what he expected Snape to say but it wasn't what came next.
"I want you to be careful" Snape said seriously "I know your very attached to that invisibility cloak of yours but you must not go wandering were it may be unsafe."
"I wont" Harry said honestly, "I have no major desire to get myself killed, or for that matter, get myself transported somewhere to be killed"
Harry felt his left eye twitch and it was clear Snape had noticed this too
"Potter, come with me to my office" Harry knew this was not a question, it was an instruction.
So, after a silent walk to the dungeons Harry found himself in Snape's office for the second evening in a row.
Snape had walked over to a cabinet to the left of his desk and was now leaning on it, staring at Harry thoughtfully. Harry stood nervously in the centre of the room glancing from his feet to the Professor and then back at his feet again. The silence was horrible and Harry wanted to say something just to create some sound.
"I want you to tell me about the third task last year"
Well, Harry hadn't expected Snape to ask that and he didn't have a clue how to answer the question without showing emotion.
"Well sir, Ced...Ced...Cedric and I," Harry found himself choking on the name "Well, we reached the cup at the same time so we decided to grab it at the same time because either way it was a victory for Hogwarts and we'd helped each other a bit. It was a portkey though, and we found ourselves in a graveyard by the Riddle's graves. There i witnessed Cedric being killed and Voldemort being brought back to full form. We duelled, but because our wands are made from the same tail feather of a phoenix something strange happened. I escaped with Cedric's body."
Harry closed his eyes as he finished the sentence and waited for Snape to reply. He hoped the potions Professor wouldn't ask him for more detail because he was struggling, struggling to hold back tears that had been threatening to come every night since it happened.
Snape reached inside the cabinet and threw something at him, commanding him to catch it. Harry realised what it was as it was coming towards him and he caught it in both hands. He wanted to cry out but he could not, he found himself unable to do anything but stare at the object in his hands, the tri-wizard cup.
"That was very trusting Potter" muttered Snape
"Why?" said Harry, his voice desperate, "Why show this to me?"
"The boy-who-lived had to watch someone else die. You see Harry, i understand that you have so much pent up emotion inside of you that you're finding it difficult to function and part of you is drifting away and phasing out. You need to let those emotions release. Let all the Hate and Tears and Fear inside of you out Harry or you'll be consumed by it"
Harry felt tears burning his eyes and slide down his face and he found himself being guided into the chair by the desk. Snape kept his arm on Harry's shoulder briefly before turning and sitting in front of him on the desk.
"Stop calling me the boy-who-lived" said Harry suddenly, his voice muffled due to the tears.
"I'm not just some kid who was luckless enough to have his parents killed by Voldemort and then somehow weakened him. I'm not just that, even if that's all the wizard world sees. You seem to think that I love the 'fame' when all I get from it is hastle and some lunatic on my back. I can't even fit in peacefully to the muggle world, as my Aunt and Uncle want me as dead as Voldemort does. Here you are thinking I'm set and you don't know the half of it"
Somewhere towards the end of the rant Harry had found himself trying to uncontrollably hit Snape but the potions master had him firmly by the wrists and Harry was getting nowhere.
"Your angry" said Snape, his voice the epitome of calm
"Yes"-shouted Harry, still trying to fight.
"You despise Voldemort"
"Yes"
"Do you hate me?"
"No"
"Then why Mr Potter are you trying to hit me?"
With this Harry stopped struggling and shook his head, backing away from the Professor.
"I'm sorry, I..." Harry's voice faded.
"Harry," said Snape seriously "Don't give up. Once Voldemort his dead things will get better but we need you Harry. I hate to admit it but we do. You're a symbol of hope and success. You make the wizarding world see that he can fall and we can make him fall again. Some fools in the Ministry of Magic may turn their heads and act blind to the situation but many are willing to fight. While Dumbledore and you are alive hope will never fade, never die. You see Harry we value you because you're the boy-that-lived, but you're also the boy that refuses to give in. Your strength is what the mass admire."
Harry was stunned by Snape's words and felt rather silly for his outburst. The potions master made no comment on Harry's actions though and merely handed him a tissue before staring at him thoughtfully again.
"You dream about it don't you Potter? It never seems to go away?" said Snape suddenly, his voice softened considerably as he said these words. All Harry could manage was a weak nod but Snape had obviously seen it. The potions master moved away from Harry to the cabinet again and took out a small bottle with a green liquid inside.
He pushed it across the table to Harry and picked up the tri-wizard cup that had fallen to the floor during Harry's outburst. Harry hadn't noticed he'd dropped it but made no comment and instead chose to look at the bottle in front of him.
Snape walked to the back of the room again, with his back to Harry.
"It's a dreamless sleep potion Harry, works very well but tastes vile" Snape turned back towards him, "Take two sips before you go to bed every night and you'll sleep peacefully."
Harry picked up the bottle and turned it in his hand, unsure of what to say.
"Can I go now sir?" he said quietly, just loud enough to be heard.
"Yes you can" said Snape, equally as quite "sleep well."
Harry was half way across the room by the time Snape said this but he turned to look back at the potions teacher nodding at him politely. As he was leaving the room he felt very confused although he felt lighter, like some of the weight on him had been lifted.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Harry had not been gone for more than a minute before Snape heard a nock at the door. He didn't turn to see who it was; he merely stared out the window at the nighttime sky.
"Harry?" he asked as the door creaked open.
"Close, although I'm a little older" came the reply of Albus Dumbledore. Snape turned round to face the headmaster and smiled.
"Well you can see how I made the mistake."
Albus laughed heartily at him and sat down in the chair were Harry had been minutes before.
"I see our young Mr Potter visited you again tonight" he stifled a smile "Seems to be getting awfully attached to you"
Snape raised an eyebrow at the older man and turned back towards the window.
"I wouldn't say attached. I think he just needs some answers and an adult to talk to. I imagine he'd talk to the Sirius if the mutt was still in the castle."
It was Dumbledore's turn to raise his eyebrows now. He made no comment about Snape's referral to Sirius Black as a mutt though, deciding to leave the topic for now.
"Whatever the reason I'm glad he's happy to talk to someone about things. I see you gave him the dreamless sleep potion, wise idea," said Dumbledore, looking up at Snape over his glasses.
Snape turned back towards the man and stared at the table in front of him, rubbing his forehead with his thumb.
"You look under immense pressure Serverus" Albus stated, "I'm glad Harry's talking to you but don't take the weight of his problems on with your own."
Snape wanted to tell him that it was too late for that but he chose to stay silent. He could feel Dumbledore's gaze fixed on him but didn't want to make any form of eye contact with him in fear of being easily read.
"Serverus, there is something your not telling me" stated Dumbledore but he gained no response from the younger man before him. Snape lifted his head and made eye contact with him.
"No, nothing. I'm just worried about the situation as we all are" Said Snape, his voice giving nothing away.
Albus stood up and looked at the window that Snape had been starting at so intently when he arrived.
"Every time I come down here I see you look out there Serverus. I wonder why you never really go out that often. It came to me last night that maybe you didn't feel like you deserved too." Snape made no reply.
"You've paid time now my boy, you've done a lot of good and even young Mr Potter can see that in you. Don't lock yourself away any longer," Albus turned to leave.
"I do not lock myself away," said Snape evenly, glaring at the back of the head masters robes. If Dumbledore had a reply he saved it, for he left the room in silence, leaving an angry Serverus Snape glaring at the door. The potions master grabbed the de-stressing potion on his desk and took a swig before flinging it across the room in temper. It shattered into pieces against the wall with a satisfying smashing sound followed by another as Snape crushed an empty bottle with his hand leaving a nasty gash across his palm.
The pain seemed to carve him though, as his breathing slowed and he became visibly less angry. Marching over to the cabinet he took out a bottle of pain killing potion and poured it on his hand and put a simple bandage over the wound. He reached into the cabinet again and took a swig of a green liquid, very much like the one he'd given to Harry. He closed his eyes and swayed on his feet until a sudden pain ripped through his arm from his wrist. He pulled up his sleeve and looked fearfully at the dark mark burning green against his pale wrist. He knew at this time of night he would be expected to go but he would not. He would not go to die; he would not give Voldemort that pleasure yet.
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Click below to review!
Oh by the way, to those who have reviewed so far thanks and i'm sorry about the spelling mistakes, especially of names. I have no idea why but on random day's i seem to have mental blocks on spelling like 'Malthoy' and 'Voldamort' in the first chapter *hits self* and rather stupidly saying Sirius was Harry's uncle. I'm afraid i have little time to right fics so these crazy mistake's do occur...sorry :s !!!
Also, some bits seem odd, like Neville's parents (in chapter 2 or 3 or whatever)and Snape's actions towards the end of this chapter, but, all will be revealed as the story goes on. The best is (by far) left to come, there's some great action in the chapter after next (when i post it, only the bare bones are written so far but with meat on i think it'll be great) and the story should get really exciting in the second half hich doesn't begin for a few chapters yet. So be warned, it's going to be a long one.
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Harry Potter and the Black Unicorn (part 6)- Memories
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Dinner seemed to float by for Harry, he'd spent the whole time thinking about the Defence against the Dark Arts lesson and the upcoming private lesson with Hidellbank. Hermione and Ron hadn't seemed to notice amazingly much though, ever that or they both decided not to comment. Anyway, they seemed to busy deep in conversation with each other to notice. Harry had noticed that they'd been very friendly since they'd returned to Hogwarts and after some of last years 'moments' Harry was convinced they liked each other. Neither would say anything about it of course, but he could tell. Ron had been too angry about Krum in year four and she had been to angry that he hadn't asked her to the ball first.
Hermione's eye's flickered slightly and she blushed, Harry had no idea why, he hadn't been listening, but that was a just another sign of her feelings as far as he was concerned.
"We should go really, everyone else is" Ron was saying as Harry tried to get back into the conversation.
"Yeeeeaaah" said Hermione, her voice was almost lazy.
"Yeah" repeated Harry, but in a normal, non 'oh Ron' kind of way.
"You've got your lesson in 20 minutes Harry" said Hermione, "I hadn't realised we'd been in here for that long"
Harry glanced round the great hall and realised it was virtually empty apart from them and a few Hufflepuffs.
They stood up and headed back to the common room so Harry could get a jumper as it was fairly cold inside the castle.
"What are you going to do whilst I'm gone?" he asked politely, although he wanted to add 'flirt' to the end of the sentence.
"Oh, I think I'm going to make him look through that book with me" said Hermione "either that or go for a walk...then look at the book"
Harry glanced at Ron so he could read his expression but Ron simply shrugged at him. Obviously he didn't mind what they did thought Harry, although Ron was probably interested about the book due to the topic.
"Well," said Harry, clasping his hands together "To the Dark Arts class room"
The other two said goodbye to him, as did Fred and George who were sitting near bye planning something. Probably something to do with their joke company Harry thought, he hoped it was going well after giving them all that money last term after the - he decided he didn't want to think about it, he'd been doing well blocking that bit of last year out of his head. He closed his eyes to regain his composure then made his way to the classroom.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Harry was a little early again for his lesson and this time he found himself alone in the room until the Professor turned up a few minutes later.
"Evening" she said, her voice was friendly, he couldn't help but notice every time he spoke to her, it was almost relaxing.
"So Mr Potter, due to the fact you cant really practice on anyone I've brought us something to help." She pointed at a large teddy bear on the desk. Harry's eyebrows must of shot up because she laughed.
"Don't look at it like that Harry! It's enchanted, so it reacts like a human would to whatever you do to it. Well...I wouldn't know about most things...reacts to spells though"
Harry raised his eyebrows again at the last comment; you could tell she was young compared to the other teachers.
"Right Mr Potter" She said, humour in her voice, "you're going to make that teddy immobilised, don't care how, whatever way you know"
Harry wanted to tell her it was a teddy, and therefore already immobilised, but he bit the comment back.
"Petrificus Totalus" he said, and the teddy froze.
"Excellent" said Hidellbank, "that's the simple one I'd use. However, Death Eater's are more difficult to deal with sometimes. So, I want you to try this one, you say Endus Totalus"
Harry tried it on the Bear and well, it didn't move...although it wasn't moving anyway. Hidellbank pocked the teddy and it didn't move at all. She turned and nodded, looking pleased with him.
"Right, now I'm going to teach you a really powerful spell that pushes people back. You'll be doing easy stuff in the other lessons, I might as well show you the harder stuff because I think you can manage it."
So, after half an hour perfecting his technique at this spell the Professor said that was enough practice.
"Right, do you want to do 10 minutes of hex practicing, just to keep you on your feet"
Another 10 minutes later and she'd shown him three new hexes as well as allowing him to practice some older ones.
"Anything else you want to do tonight Harry?" she asked him. Before he got a chance to answer however the door opened.
"Professor Snape" she said warmly, "come in"
"I was going to anyway," he answered curtly. he walked over to the two of them and looked at the teddy.
"I take it no one agreed to be Potter's rag doll?" he asked, giving the bear a contemptuous look.
"The bear did" she replied sarcastically. Harry smiled at the comment and looked up at Snape, waiting for a reaction but none came.
"Oh for gods sake, hex me Potter" Snape muttered, and walked towards were the bear was.
"P...pardon" stuttered Harry.
"Hex me, you need practice on a real person too" explained Snape, his voice lost none of its edge though.
Harry nodded and tried out one of the new hexes on Snape and grimaced when Snape went down in pain.
"Excellent" came a muffled voice from the floor, and Snape stood up again, "Next"
Two new hexes later and Snape looked rather pained. He pulled himself up of the floor using a desk and flexed his muscles to relieve the aching.
"Right, now then Harry, have you tried the Imperius curse, it can come in useful when fighting more than one death eater as it can take some out of the picture when your fighting them. Just make them sleep or cartwheel or something."
Harry looked at Snape like he was mad but Snape didn't move from the spot.
"Erm...no, but i can try" he said, a hint of nerves in his voice.
"Good" muttered Snape "Just don't make me do anything to stupid Potter"
Harry nodded and raised his wand at Snape and shouted "Imperio!"
There was silence and Snape just stood there like he was in a trance. Harry racked his brain for something to make Snape do and then he hit something.
Sure enough Snape stepped foreword and put his hand on his heart,
"I Serverus Snape would like to admit that although Harry Potter annoys me something rotten he's not really that bad...you little Gryffindor bugger you"
The last bit sounded forced, obviously Snape was fighting it.
Hidellbank flicked her wand next to him and Snape returned to normal.
"You did well fighting that Snape" she said calmly, "his magic is strong"
Snape merely nodded and turned to Harry and stared at him. It made Harry uneasy when Snape didn't look away. He raised his eyes at Snape, a gesture he hoped would either make Snape look away or at least say something. It seemed to have the desired effect.
"Its just past nine" he said, looking now at Hidellbank.
"Yes, yes" she muttered, "we'll call it a day. Well done Harry"
With that she gave Harry a pleasant smile and walked out. Harry was left standing there alone with Snape. Before this year he may have found that a completely horrifying idea, but now it was only mildly scary.
"I expected you to make me dance or something Potter" Snape said coolly. He had now resumed staring at Harry.
"Well you said nothing to embarrassing" Harry said calmly, staring back at the potions master. Harry didn't know what he expected Snape to say but it wasn't what came next.
"I want you to be careful" Snape said seriously "I know your very attached to that invisibility cloak of yours but you must not go wandering were it may be unsafe."
"I wont" Harry said honestly, "I have no major desire to get myself killed, or for that matter, get myself transported somewhere to be killed"
Harry felt his left eye twitch and it was clear Snape had noticed this too
"Potter, come with me to my office" Harry knew this was not a question, it was an instruction.
So, after a silent walk to the dungeons Harry found himself in Snape's office for the second evening in a row.
Snape had walked over to a cabinet to the left of his desk and was now leaning on it, staring at Harry thoughtfully. Harry stood nervously in the centre of the room glancing from his feet to the Professor and then back at his feet again. The silence was horrible and Harry wanted to say something just to create some sound.
"I want you to tell me about the third task last year"
Well, Harry hadn't expected Snape to ask that and he didn't have a clue how to answer the question without showing emotion.
"Well sir, Ced...Ced...Cedric and I," Harry found himself choking on the name "Well, we reached the cup at the same time so we decided to grab it at the same time because either way it was a victory for Hogwarts and we'd helped each other a bit. It was a portkey though, and we found ourselves in a graveyard by the Riddle's graves. There i witnessed Cedric being killed and Voldemort being brought back to full form. We duelled, but because our wands are made from the same tail feather of a phoenix something strange happened. I escaped with Cedric's body."
Harry closed his eyes as he finished the sentence and waited for Snape to reply. He hoped the potions Professor wouldn't ask him for more detail because he was struggling, struggling to hold back tears that had been threatening to come every night since it happened.
Snape reached inside the cabinet and threw something at him, commanding him to catch it. Harry realised what it was as it was coming towards him and he caught it in both hands. He wanted to cry out but he could not, he found himself unable to do anything but stare at the object in his hands, the tri-wizard cup.
"That was very trusting Potter" muttered Snape
"Why?" said Harry, his voice desperate, "Why show this to me?"
"The boy-who-lived had to watch someone else die. You see Harry, i understand that you have so much pent up emotion inside of you that you're finding it difficult to function and part of you is drifting away and phasing out. You need to let those emotions release. Let all the Hate and Tears and Fear inside of you out Harry or you'll be consumed by it"
Harry felt tears burning his eyes and slide down his face and he found himself being guided into the chair by the desk. Snape kept his arm on Harry's shoulder briefly before turning and sitting in front of him on the desk.
"Stop calling me the boy-who-lived" said Harry suddenly, his voice muffled due to the tears.
"I'm not just some kid who was luckless enough to have his parents killed by Voldemort and then somehow weakened him. I'm not just that, even if that's all the wizard world sees. You seem to think that I love the 'fame' when all I get from it is hastle and some lunatic on my back. I can't even fit in peacefully to the muggle world, as my Aunt and Uncle want me as dead as Voldemort does. Here you are thinking I'm set and you don't know the half of it"
Somewhere towards the end of the rant Harry had found himself trying to uncontrollably hit Snape but the potions master had him firmly by the wrists and Harry was getting nowhere.
"Your angry" said Snape, his voice the epitome of calm
"Yes"-shouted Harry, still trying to fight.
"You despise Voldemort"
"Yes"
"Do you hate me?"
"No"
"Then why Mr Potter are you trying to hit me?"
With this Harry stopped struggling and shook his head, backing away from the Professor.
"I'm sorry, I..." Harry's voice faded.
"Harry," said Snape seriously "Don't give up. Once Voldemort his dead things will get better but we need you Harry. I hate to admit it but we do. You're a symbol of hope and success. You make the wizarding world see that he can fall and we can make him fall again. Some fools in the Ministry of Magic may turn their heads and act blind to the situation but many are willing to fight. While Dumbledore and you are alive hope will never fade, never die. You see Harry we value you because you're the boy-that-lived, but you're also the boy that refuses to give in. Your strength is what the mass admire."
Harry was stunned by Snape's words and felt rather silly for his outburst. The potions master made no comment on Harry's actions though and merely handed him a tissue before staring at him thoughtfully again.
"You dream about it don't you Potter? It never seems to go away?" said Snape suddenly, his voice softened considerably as he said these words. All Harry could manage was a weak nod but Snape had obviously seen it. The potions master moved away from Harry to the cabinet again and took out a small bottle with a green liquid inside.
He pushed it across the table to Harry and picked up the tri-wizard cup that had fallen to the floor during Harry's outburst. Harry hadn't noticed he'd dropped it but made no comment and instead chose to look at the bottle in front of him.
Snape walked to the back of the room again, with his back to Harry.
"It's a dreamless sleep potion Harry, works very well but tastes vile" Snape turned back towards him, "Take two sips before you go to bed every night and you'll sleep peacefully."
Harry picked up the bottle and turned it in his hand, unsure of what to say.
"Can I go now sir?" he said quietly, just loud enough to be heard.
"Yes you can" said Snape, equally as quite "sleep well."
Harry was half way across the room by the time Snape said this but he turned to look back at the potions teacher nodding at him politely. As he was leaving the room he felt very confused although he felt lighter, like some of the weight on him had been lifted.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Harry had not been gone for more than a minute before Snape heard a nock at the door. He didn't turn to see who it was; he merely stared out the window at the nighttime sky.
"Harry?" he asked as the door creaked open.
"Close, although I'm a little older" came the reply of Albus Dumbledore. Snape turned round to face the headmaster and smiled.
"Well you can see how I made the mistake."
Albus laughed heartily at him and sat down in the chair were Harry had been minutes before.
"I see our young Mr Potter visited you again tonight" he stifled a smile "Seems to be getting awfully attached to you"
Snape raised an eyebrow at the older man and turned back towards the window.
"I wouldn't say attached. I think he just needs some answers and an adult to talk to. I imagine he'd talk to the Sirius if the mutt was still in the castle."
It was Dumbledore's turn to raise his eyebrows now. He made no comment about Snape's referral to Sirius Black as a mutt though, deciding to leave the topic for now.
"Whatever the reason I'm glad he's happy to talk to someone about things. I see you gave him the dreamless sleep potion, wise idea," said Dumbledore, looking up at Snape over his glasses.
Snape turned back towards the man and stared at the table in front of him, rubbing his forehead with his thumb.
"You look under immense pressure Serverus" Albus stated, "I'm glad Harry's talking to you but don't take the weight of his problems on with your own."
Snape wanted to tell him that it was too late for that but he chose to stay silent. He could feel Dumbledore's gaze fixed on him but didn't want to make any form of eye contact with him in fear of being easily read.
"Serverus, there is something your not telling me" stated Dumbledore but he gained no response from the younger man before him. Snape lifted his head and made eye contact with him.
"No, nothing. I'm just worried about the situation as we all are" Said Snape, his voice giving nothing away.
Albus stood up and looked at the window that Snape had been starting at so intently when he arrived.
"Every time I come down here I see you look out there Serverus. I wonder why you never really go out that often. It came to me last night that maybe you didn't feel like you deserved too." Snape made no reply.
"You've paid time now my boy, you've done a lot of good and even young Mr Potter can see that in you. Don't lock yourself away any longer," Albus turned to leave.
"I do not lock myself away," said Snape evenly, glaring at the back of the head masters robes. If Dumbledore had a reply he saved it, for he left the room in silence, leaving an angry Serverus Snape glaring at the door. The potions master grabbed the de-stressing potion on his desk and took a swig before flinging it across the room in temper. It shattered into pieces against the wall with a satisfying smashing sound followed by another as Snape crushed an empty bottle with his hand leaving a nasty gash across his palm.
The pain seemed to carve him though, as his breathing slowed and he became visibly less angry. Marching over to the cabinet he took out a bottle of pain killing potion and poured it on his hand and put a simple bandage over the wound. He reached into the cabinet again and took a swig of a green liquid, very much like the one he'd given to Harry. He closed his eyes and swayed on his feet until a sudden pain ripped through his arm from his wrist. He pulled up his sleeve and looked fearfully at the dark mark burning green against his pale wrist. He knew at this time of night he would be expected to go but he would not. He would not go to die; he would not give Voldemort that pleasure yet.
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Oh by the way, to those who have reviewed so far thanks and i'm sorry about the spelling mistakes, especially of names. I have no idea why but on random day's i seem to have mental blocks on spelling like 'Malthoy' and 'Voldamort' in the first chapter *hits self* and rather stupidly saying Sirius was Harry's uncle. I'm afraid i have little time to right fics so these crazy mistake's do occur...sorry :s !!!
Also, some bits seem odd, like Neville's parents (in chapter 2 or 3 or whatever)and Snape's actions towards the end of this chapter, but, all will be revealed as the story goes on. The best is (by far) left to come, there's some great action in the chapter after next (when i post it, only the bare bones are written so far but with meat on i think it'll be great) and the story should get really exciting in the second half hich doesn't begin for a few chapters yet. So be warned, it's going to be a long one.
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