Mantic

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the world in which he frolics.

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Severus had been trying to contact Albus Dumbledore for the past two hours, but to no avail. Either Dumbledore was busy or he was dead. He hoped beyond hope that it was the prior. He had left Draco in the pensieve with Harry to keep them both safe. Hopefully, there would be no death in this situation, but he did not want to risk all of Harry's protection.

He explored his late father's office in an attempt to find some answer to his pressing question: how would he keep Harry Potter alive? There was, as Severus already knew, no answer in this barren room, only the collection of dust and memories.

Severus spotted a black, leather bound book that had been lying somewhat conspicuously at the end of his father's desk. This book, as he had come to realize, was the catalyst that had forced Severus to serve the Dark Lord.

He closed his eyes.

~~~~~~~

"Look at me, boy, get up." A tall man stood where Severus lay on the dirty kitchen floor.

Wordlessly, he stood up and carefully raised his eyes to meet his father's menacing glare. Too fast or too slow, he would get beaten to the ground again. His timing would have to be impeccable to please his father.

"You would kill me, wouldn't you? If you got the chance…" It was spoken in such a way that formulated a command instead of a question. Kill me, it said, if you can.

The child was stricken; what answer wouldn't end in another blow to the head? He looked up again into his father's eyes and was met with a laugh. No, his father was certainly not laughing, but his eyes, his soul spoke to Severus. Deep inside, his father only wanted an answer - it didn't matter what answer, only a response.

Slowly, as he did all things, he nodded. There seemed to be no correct response to such a question. A yes would prove Severus despised his father, and a no would be an obvious lie. He was beaten regardless.

~~~~~~~

"Do you think the battle started yet?" Harry broke the silence first. They had been lying there for the better part of four hours and Harry's scar was starting to ache.

There was a long pause in which Draco seemed to be collecting his answer in slow, lazy thoughts, "I don't know."

"Is Tonks dead?"

"I don't know."

Another long silence - they both contemplated on what had taken place, who died, who lived, who was still fighting. Neither of their expectations had come to pass. This hiding was unfamiliar to Draco and almost unacceptable to Harry.

"I want to fight." Harry said, rather blandly.

"Me too, Harry. But you know, in a way, we are sort of fighting."

"I know." Harry resigned himself to more waiting, but then realized that his scar was a passport into Voldemort's subconscious. "You know, I think he's having fun."

Draco managed a confused look, "Who?"

"Voldemort. I can feel it in my scar. Sometimes when he's happy…or really angry."

"You took Occlumency, didn't you?"

"Er…rather unsuccessfully." Harry admitted, "But you did, right? You would have had to, working as a spy and all."

They paused in their conversation for another long while, as if words were a precious commodity that could not afford to be wasted. Harry shifted his weight to the left side of his body, comfortably resting against Draco's back.

"I want to sleep, Harry" Draco whined, finally realizing why they were so lethargic.

"I want to eat. There are too many hours in a day. When's Snape coming?"

Harry got up from his spot in front of the fire and quietly made his way toward the pocket watch Snape had left for them. He examined the patterns on the thick silver casing and reeled back when he realized what stood out on the top: the Dark Mark.

"Time?" Draco called.

Harry opened the watch, putting the image of the Dark Mark out of his mind. He didn't get a chance to look at the time, though, because Severus Snape had just opened the portrait hole and climbed his way through into the common room.

"Close the watch, Potter." Severus commanded before pulling it out of Harry's hands and closing it himself.

"Severus," Draco sounded surprised, "What are you doing here so early?"

Severus stalled for a second, as if considering which words would be safest, "I have been informed that Albus has fallen ill. He can no longer lead the fight from Hogwarts and I have been called to take his place. I will, unfortunately, be required to take the Polyjuice Potion disguised as him." He breathed, trying to control his tone, "And to the Dark Lord, I will be dead."

Draco and Harry were both stunned. Several things had taken place in the last fifteen seconds. Albus Dumbledore had become sick, Severus Snape had just taken his place, and rather idiotically, he had died in doing so. Or this was their realization of these illogical facts.

"But…that's, how will you help Harry if you're at Hogwarts?" Draco feared the answer, wishing it would all just be over.

"We're going with him," Harry answered, as if realization had only just dawned on him too.

"I'm afraid so. But Draco, you will have killed me, and that will bring you a favorable position with the Dark Lord. It's the same situation I was in years ago, with Karkaroff. Regardless, you will rejoin the Death Eaters and claim you've thrown me into some sort of perilous situation from which I could not escape, am I clear?"

"Well, yeah, but Dumbledore's orders were to keep Harry away from Hogwarts. Sending him back would just…it would just put him in danger!"

"I'll stay here, then." Harry looked across the room to Draco, who was rather flustered, "Nobody knows where I am but the two of you."

Before Draco could remind them again of Dumbledore's order, Severus sighed, "You will realize that I am now Albus. I will make his commands just as you will follow them, under the Order. Harry Potter, you will not remove yourself from this pensieve unless there is no other option. I will leave it at my father's manor, in the library as a book end. Draco, you will Apparate to Hogsmeade and declare full allegiance with the Dark Lord. Here," He added as an afterthought and tossed the Death Eater's robes onto the floor next to Draco.

Secretly, Harry had wished that we would be sent out of the pensieve with Draco, as the boredom was seeping into him constantly. The passing of an ant had been exciting, as the monotone surroundings had nothing else to offer. Secretly, he wished to be sent to fight in Hogwarts, to end the ridiculous game he had played with Voldemort since the night he received his scar. But that was a shameful secret he was not willing to part with.

"Harry, you'll be alright?" Draco was beside him now, in his Death Eater robes. How had he dressed so quickly?

"This is all happening so fast, isn't it?" Harry smiled, wishing the passage of time in the pensieve would occur just as quickly.

"Don't worry about that. Just…keep yourself busy. Hold on." He pulled from his pockets a few of his schoolbooks he had mistakenly brought along with him. Charming them back to their original size, he left the heavy stack on the ground, "Read these if you get bored. I'll come back as soon as I can, alright? And…well," He looked down at the floor and then up at Severus, "What happens if we die? How will Harry know when to come out?"

At this, Severus placed his pocket watch back onto the table, "This is a two way speaker as well as a watch. We will keep one here and," Severus shifted around in his robe pocket and pulled out another identical copy, "This will go with you, Draco. I will not be coming back, so it is up to you to protect him."

And it had seemed so fast when Harry remembered it. Severus had left first and Draco followed, only after leaving a few dozen kisses. They hadn't said anything but goodbye. Three days after leaving Hogwarts, Harry was once again alone in a memory.

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Hey people! I updated pretty fast, hm? I wonder if this chapter is at all concise. Ah well. Anyway, I though I should mention the Snape factor. Lol. How he started learning legilimens is sort of revealed in this chapter, when he has to protect himself from his father. Turns out it was a childhood gift. Flashbacks are wonderful. It's sort of a past meets present thing for Severus, and for Harry and Draco, they're trying to understand things better, if you get me. Harry's sort of naïve about Voldemort despite being one of the only people who've survived a conflict with him. And Draco's conflict will come into clearer focus in the following chapters. And the wonderful thing is that their stories will become intertwined as the fic draws to an end. Yup.

Well, you'll have to read (and review) to find out what happens. Please leave some criticism so I can fix all the glaring errors I know are in there. I have no beta. That is an obvious and must unfortunate problem, but the turnaround time is just too long. I'm such a lazy bum.

-Tara