Dreaming in Reality
Chapter 4
By Kalibrit

The Next Morning

Harry got up early and decided to take a walk outside. He really didn't want to have another confrontation with Ron. He knew that the Great Hall was going to be bad enough; to not have the support of his best friend, his pseudo brother, was just going to make it that much worse.

Plus he had the feeling Dumbledore was going to be twinkling.

A Lot.

He had grown to hate that twinkle.

It was never an indicator of anything good for him.

Harry made his way to his favourite bench and took a seat. He wanted to make sure he had a clear mind for the day. He'd been working very hard at keeping his temper in check. He had a lot of things on his mind, so much so he didn't notice the form remove itself from the shadows and make its way towards him.

"Potter," that dark voice wafted its way towards him. He knew it anywhere and it never failed to make him tense up.

"Professor," he replied quietly, his mantra 'calm, calm, calm' echoing in his mind.

Professor Severus Snape stopped in front of Potter as he continued to sit on the bench.

"What are you up to?"

"What do you mean, Sir?"

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Sitting here, Sir."

"Don't be a smart ass Potter, what do you think you are doing with Lucius?"

"What happens between Lucius and I is our business and doesn't pertain to you, Professor."

"Don't tell me you actually believe he feels anything for you."

Harry stared at him. He didn't want to listen to what Snape had to say but, what could he say. He hadn't had a chance to have a conversation with Lucius yet. Technically it had been a while since they had spoken in person, and that wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. All he had to go on was the dreams; yes they seemed real, and Lucius was there using Hogwarts as a sanctuary, but was it real. He needed to speak with Lucius, without anyone butting in. However, he wasn't going to give the sadistic bastard otherwise known as the Greasy Git the satisfaction of knowing he was even affected by what he was saying.

"Again, sir, that would be between Lucius and myself."

Severus was unused to a Potter that didn't get angry at the drop of a hat. He was used to getting the boy to spill everything while yelling angrily. However, before he could try anything else they were interrupted.

"Ah Severus, you were keeping Harry company for me, how sweet." Lucius walked into the courtyard. He was dressed very casually for him. He had on black tapered trousers and a soft grey shirt, covered with a simple black cloak.

Severus growled at Lucius, 'sweet'. The blond knew better than that. He stalked away, not bothering to reply to the other Slytherin.

Lucius grinned quickly at Harry and took a seat next to him, straddling the bench. "He wasn't bothering you, was he?" he asked quietly.

Harry shook his head, looking at his feet.

"Harry," Lucius lifted his head by the chin. "What's wrong?"

"He was just being himself, pissing on everybody's parade."

Lucius snorted, elegantly of course. "What did he say that hurt you?"

Harry didn't really want to say, he didn't want to seem like an insecure little kid. He was seventeen years old, but he hadn't been in a serious relationship before. He hadn't had the time. After his disastrous fifth year, he had more important things to take care of and no time for anything else.

"Let me guess, he said you were an idiot for trusting me; that I couldn't possibly have any feelings for you, I was using you for my own nefarious purpose and that you should stay far away from me."

Harry looked up into Lucius' eyes. "He didn't get as far as that."

"How far did he get?"

"Just to the part where you couldn't have feelings for me," Harry whispered, dropping his eyes to the ground.

Lucius silently cursed Severus. He knew that the man didn't understand what was going on. He also knew that the other man couldn't see past his treatment in the past by Harry's father and father's friends. There was a lot of bitterness that had been built up over there years.

"Harry, there are several things I could say about Severus, but I won't. He is still your professor and frankly, there are things you probably don't want to know about it." Lucius paused, he watched as Harry's face look interested for a moment, but then a slightly ill look overcame his features…Ahhh the imagination is a wonderful thing. "He has known me for a lot of years, he has known me at my worst and it has been a long time since he has seen anything else. He knows that my marriage with Narcissus was arranged and that if it wasn't for my son, we wouldn't have stayed together at all."

"What. Where are we going to go from here?" Harry asked quietly. He needed to know what Lucius expected. He knew what he himself wanted, but he had to be sure that the older man was true in his feelings. He knew that he was already in deep, but he felt that if this was all a ruse, he could still get away relatively unscathed. He would probably be hurt for a long while, but it wouldn't destroy him. Yet.

Lucius leaned forward and brushed his hand of Harry's cheek, trailing his fingers along the flesh. "Harry, I know we have a lot to talk about. What we've shared means a lot to me. The discussions we've had, and I hope continue to have, made me think. I've been disillusioned with the way my life was for a long time, but had no reason to change anything. I won't lie about my beliefs, I do believe that we need to conserve our way of life, we need to make sure our history and our beliefs survive. I however don't believe in the fanaticism of Lord Voldemort."

"Why did you join him then?" Harry asked quietly.

"I didn't have a choice. My father took me before him, and it was either accept the mark or die. I will admit that I took the mark, but there was no way I was going to willingly die at seventeen."

Harry didn't really have anything to say to that. He could definitely understand the survival extinct of human nature. He felt that he himself had a huge survival instinct. With his life, he needed it. Who was he to judge what other people did to survive? There had been many times he was tempted to take the easy way out, however he did have just enough Gryffindor stubbornness in him to not fall off his path.

Harry leaned in closer to Lucius. "Are you really as anti-muggle as you portray?"

Lucius thought about how to word his answer. "Do I believe that all muggles should be destroyed? No. Do I believe that muggle-born's don't belong in our world? Again, no. However I do believe that they are destroying our way of life. They come into this world, they don't respect our traditions and over time they have influenced families to no longer follow the old ways."

"Well, why aren't these traditions taught to us. I mean if you don't want them to fade away with the other changes in our world, these traditions that are important should be taught. I may be a 'pureblood' but I was raised in a muggle household. I didn't know I was a wizard until I was 11 and Hagrid broke down the door to the cabin my Uncle was hiding us in. I found out I was not an abnormal freak, but a wizard. Of course I didn't know what that meant, but it sounded better than freak. Next I'm taken to Diagon Alley and all these people are freakin' out over me for some reason. I'm still finding out things I don't know that are normal for people brought up in our world. There hasn't been anywhere to learn it though. I'm made to feel like an idiot when I don't know something 3 year olds' know. If these traditions are so important why isn't there an Introduction to the Wizarding World for muggle born or raised students? Have them go a year before they start Hogwarts."

Severus listened to their conversation from the shadows. The Potter spawn didn't know he was a wizard? He however did agree with the spawn about a wizarding tradition class. Something didn't fit with this picture. Why had his uncle been hiding him? There was much to think of on this matter. He faded further into the shadows and headed to the dungeons.

Chapter Started 7/3/05
Chapter Completed 7/31/05
TBC - Well, so much for my once a month update. Hopefully the next one will be quicker, but with 2 major projects at work I can't give any guarantees. I try to make my chapters about 1k words. would you like shorter updates or keep the longer chapters?