Chapter Eleven:

Harry cupped his hands together and splashed the icy-cold water over his face. The gash above his eye brow twinged with a dull pain. Dumbledore was really cutting the last of his nerves. Making him learn Occlumency with Snape, the man who wanted to kill him. Harry was sure of it. He could still clearly see Ron waking up from his first attempt at Occlumency on the floor of Snape's classroom. At first he sat there rubbing the back of his head vigorously, but as soon as he looked up and saw Harry fighting back Snape's Legilmincy he began to yell.

"Stop it! You're hurting him!"

"Honestly, Weasley. Do you believe the Dark Lord will be gentle upon request?" Snape sneered. "Fight it, Potter. Come on, don't be so weak!"

A rather large boy sat on a pale, sickly thin five-year-old Harry. The boy greedily ate a box of chocolates, every once in a while chucking one behind him. The kitchen the two boys were in was littered with chocolates that did not appeal to the heavier boy. The boy that was Harry screamed in protest, and violently pounded the linoleum floor with his fists and feet.

"Fine, you little worm!" spat the heavy child. He began to walk around the kitchen, examining the discarded chocolates as Harry scrambled to stand himself up and escape from the kitchen.

"You're not even trying," Snape said dully.

"I......am!" Harry struggled to keep his knees from giving out under him as more memories surfaced.

"...I was the only one who saw her for what she really was, a FREAK!" Aunt Petunia crossed her arms and shivered at the memory of her sister.

Suddenly the memory shifted and Harry stood in Dumbledore's office, throwing objects left and right. A silver globe hit the ground, and all of the rods and poles that decorated it snapped off. Dumbledore stood watching calmly.

Why was he throwing a fit now?

Oh, yea. Sirius just died.

Sirius fell gracefully through the veil. Harry fought back Remus's tight grip. He had to save him. Sirius could still be-

Harry blacked out.

"Harry? Harry, are you alright?"

"Get up, Potter." Snape pulled Harry to his feet, but not before his forehead hit a sharp corner of the table next to him.

"Ow!' Harry's hand automatically flew to the spot his head had made contact with the table. He felt something sticky and looked at his hand. Blood.

"That's enough for today. Our next lesson will be exactly a week from today, same time. This time do not be late. I will not let you off with a warning again. Now, go. Be gone from my office."

Ron's knees knocked together as he stood up. Harry shivered, and Ron opened his mouth to say something.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go!" Snape snapped.

The two boys ran out of his office, fuming with anger and embarrassment.

 Someone knocked on the door.

"Harry, are you alright? You've been in there for a while." Hermione's concerned voice asked from the other side of the door.

"Yea, I'm just taking care of this embarrassing gash across my forehead." He continued to splash the water on his face. He heard Hermione linger for a moment, and then walk away reluctantly.

Snape could have healed the cut in a second, but instead he left Harry to deal with it. It would definitely leave a scar now. As if one wasn't enough.

Harry turned off the faucet, and looked into the mirror. His forehead looked a little better, but he was still full of anger, his pride shattered by Snape. The mirror reflected the full moon behind him. It made the night look peaceful, and added to the majesty of the stars that sat in the sky. Harry knew that somewhere, wherever Remus was, the night was anything but peaceful.

The sound of shattered glass brought Hermione back to the bathroom door.

"Harry?"

"I'm fine, 'Mione. I'll be out in a minute." Harry yelled back.

He looked down at his stinging hand, and saw that it was cut by the shards of the moon he had just punched.

Great. What a stupid thing to do.

"Seven years bad luck!" A passing figuring in the painting next to him called out.

Harry gave a menacing glare, and the figure ran out of the frame to another painting that must have been in another room.

"Repairo," he said, and with a small flick of his wand the mirror was restored to it's previous condition. Harry wrapped his cut-up hand in paper towels and exited the bathroom.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny entered the common room with full stomachs that weighed them down. They had just returned from the Christmas Feast, and Ron continued to munch on a slice of fruit cake.

"What are you doing here?" Ron choked on his food.

"Just visiting our old home, my brother." Fred said.

"Unless that's a crime," George finished off.

Ginny ran to hug her brothers.

"New product? Let's see then." Hermione sat next to Fred. The others joined her.

"Bloody hell, that's Snape!" Ron exclaimed at the deck of cards George began dealing out. Instead of the usual numbers and symbols, they had on them a caricature of Snape. The most prominent feature, his nose, was greatly exaggerated.

"That's right. Newest product, Exploding Snape." Fred beamed at the bewildered teens that sat in front of him.

"Works just like Exploding Snap," Fred explained.

"But our version is a little different," George finished. "Observe."

Fred and George started a quick game.

"You play the same way, but when you make a wrong move-" George allowed himself to make a mistake. "Snape explodes."

Sure enough, the portrait of Snape began to swell up until it exploded, sending spurts of oil and greasy residue flying into Hermione's eyes.

Harry and Ron immediately burst into hysterics. Ginny bit her lip in attempt to hide a smile, but she too gave in.

"Oh, come on....Hermione..." she gasped for air. "You can't tell me...you didn't think that was funny!"

Hermione cleared away the grease from Snape's hair with a corner of her robes. "Honestly, you two are supposed to be of age?" She frowned. However, that frown did not hold for long, and she too began to laugh.

Soon the common room began to fill up with more Gryfindors. As a special Christmas treat, Fred and George began to pass out free decks of Exploding Snape. The entire common room grouped themselves and began to play the card game. When it was a little past midnight, Hermione took on her prefect duties and forced everyone to go to bed. Ron blushed and tried to stay invisible. He felt too out of place as a prefect, but Professor Mcgonagall had refused to hand his duties over to someone else, promising him that if he still did not like the position as prefect he would be allowed to stop in his seventh year.

"Ron, help me!" Hermione hissed.

"Oh, right..." Ron cleared his throat and stood up. "That's it everyone. Time to go to sleep. It's late," he said, barely audible to even those standing next to him. Hermione rolled her eyes and ushered everyone to their dorms herself. Fred and George bid them a goodnight, and left the Gryfindor Tower.

"Wow, what a great Christmas, hey Harry?"

"Yea, it's been great, Ron." Harry gave what he hoped to be a genuine-looking smile.

"I have to remember to write a letter of thanks to your mum."

"But Harry, it was only a maroon jumper and a few cakes. Just like every year." Ron shrugged.

"More than the Dursleys ever gave," Harry muttered. He did not look to see if Ron had heard him. Harry walked to the boys' dormitory, changed into his pajamas, and climbed into bed.

He found himself thinking of Remus when he tried to clear his mind.

"Stop it," he told himself.

Snape was constantly on his case with Occlumency. Harry had shown no improvement since the start of lessons two months ago. Ron, on the other hand, was able to block out Snape's thoughts on many occasions. Usually at every lesson he would break into Snape's mind at least once or twice. On one occasion he was even able to perform Legilmincy three times in one day. He put Harry to shame when Snape announced that Ron would be allowed to stop taking lessons after the holidays.

"If only Remus were here..."

Harry closed his eyes and hoped for a goodnight's sleep. After all, Ron's visions had stopped. Couldn't his?

"Harry?" Someone shook him awake.

"He's burning up."

"Should I get Madam Pomfrey, or maybe Mcgonagall?"

"No..." Harry protested. He tried to shield out the bright light someone had turned on.

"Harry, you feel really hot," Ron said.

"I'm fine..." Harry's stomach did not agree. "I think I'm going to- " someone held a bin in front of his face. Harry emptied his dinner into it.

"Go, Neville," Ron said.

A few moments later Mcgonagall came rushing to Harry's bedside. " Sick, Mr. Potter?" She helped him find his robe and slippers.

"Fine..." Harry mumbled.

"Let's go, Mr. Potter," Mcgonagall escorted Harry to the Infirmary.

"Ah, you must really enjoy my company," Madam Pomfrey led Harry to a bed the moment he had arrived. Mcgonagall went to inform the Headmaster of what had just happened.

"Not again..." Harry said, still feeling dizzy and feverish. He was only mildly aware of his surroundings, but he was aware enough to know it was not the first time this had happened.

"Open up, it's Dreamless Sleep." Madam Pomfrey shoved a spoonful of the potion into Harry's mouth. "You've got to stop this, Potter. Professor Snape can't brew potions this quickly.

"Not him..." Harry groaned, still not quite coherent.

Madam Pomfrey gave him a sorry smile, and told him to close his eyes. He would not have obeyed, but the Dreamless Sleep Potion took over.

"Some clever plan you must have then," Remus smirked.

Wormtail turned around and put his face to the bars of Remus's cell. "What did you say?"

Remus coughed at the putrid smell of Wormtail's breath, and scowled at the disgusting sight of his cracked and rotting teeth. "I said," Remus repeated, "that this plan must be so clever considering I have been sitting in this cell for months, and you have not even taken me to Voldemort, or attempted to abduct Harry. What's the matter, Peter, too scared to go through your own evil deeds?"

"Shut up!" Wormtail rattled the bars, causing Remus to lose his balance. He toppled over from a kneeling position, and hit his head on the rocky floor. Remus winced but did not dare give Wormtail the satisfaction of hearing him cry out. The dull throbbing in his head had increased to a roar. Wormtail chuckled. "A big strong wolf such as yourself can't take a little bump to the head?"

Remus quickly sat up, and backed away into the far wall of his cell. It had just been two days since his last transformation, and without the Wolfsbane they were more painful than ever. Wormtail knew this, and would often take great pleasure in making Remus pass out.

"Stupefy," Wormtail muttered mercilessly.

Remus crumpled to the ground like a pile of rags. Outside of his cell a few flakes of snow began to fall.

Wormtail beamed, "Happy Christmas."

A/N: So, what do you think? I've pretty much outlined the rest of the story except for the upcoming chapter. Hopefully it'll connect nicely with the rest. I really have an odd way of writing out and mapping my story. I need a new method.

What more can I say but to REVIEW! Feeling pretty pathetic at the moment. Wondering if people are actually reading this...

Anyway, it's past one in the morning right now and I'm really tired so....night.