Disclaimer: See Chapter One.
A/N: Hey there everyone! Okay, now that things are finally calming down around here, I might actually be able to update more often. Oh the shock! All I have to say is thank goodness spring break is next week, oh thank goodness. I am going to sleep, write, read, and sleep some more. You have no idea how sleep deprived I am at the moment. Ohhh, sleep. Okay, I'll stop babbling now. Thank you all so much for your reviews, I love you all! Also, just for the record, Severus and Lily were friends! NOTHING MORE! K? Good. You'll understand once you read this chapter. A huge thank you to my beta enb2004 who has the most wonderful HP fic called Acceptance. So? What are you waiting for? Go over there and read it! As promised, here is Chapter 9. Enjoy!
It was late at night when Harry's peaceful sleep was interrupted rather rudely by Voldemort. Harry had actually been having a peaceful dream for once when suddenly, he found himself back at the graveyard.
His scar pulsed fiercely as he gazed around the cemetery. Sure enough, there was Lord Voldemort surrounded by his minions and he was angry, very angry. Harry flinched as Voldemort suddenly threw a Cruciatus curse at one of is followers.
Both Harry and the death eater screamed in agony. If Harry didn't know any better he would have sworn that the curse had hit him as well. At last, it stopped after what felt like forever.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT POTTER AND HIS RELATIVES WERE NOT AT HOME!" he roared as he stopped the curse.
The death eaters, as well as Harry, flinched. "I... I am sorry my lord. It would seem that they have gone on vacation," the Death Eater that Harry recognized as Lucius Malfoy said.
"Crucio," Voldemort hissed again. Lucius and Harry screamed again in agony. This time though, Voldemort held it for quite a while longer. Harry thought he was going to go insane when the pain suddenly stopped.
"Let that be a lesson for all of you," Voldemort hissed. "I do not tolerate failure. Find me the Dursleys and the Potter boy! Get out of my sight!"
The Death Eaters were more than happy to oblige and quickly apparated away. As soon as they had left, Harry felt himself leaving the vision and being dragged into the waking world.
When Harry returned to the waking world, the first thing he was aware of was how badly he hurt. Every part of his body ached and he felt as though he could not move a muscle.
"Harry! Harry can you hear me!" he heard Ron's frantic voice from beside him.
"Yeah," he muttered not even opening his eyes. His eyelids felt too heavy to open. All he wanted to do was fall into a long dreamless sleep. He was just about to do so when he registered that someone was shaking him.
"Harry! Don't you dare go to sleep young man," a slightly panicked female voice said suddenly.
"Come on Harry, open your eyes. That's a boy," Madame Pomfrey said as Harry finally did as she requested. "Now, swallow these potions, no arguments," she said sternly.
Harry wasn't even going to attempt to argue with her however. His whole body felt as though it had been run over by a freight train. If the foul concoctions she was pouring into his mouth would relieve the pain, he would gladly take them.
"There now, that is far more like it," the nurse said seeing that the potions had indeed perked Harry up.
"Harry, can you tell us what happened?" Dumbledore said, suddenly appearing from behind Mrs. Weasley and Madame Pomfrey.
The pain had lessened enough for Harry to get his mouth working. He told Dumbledore everything that he could remember and about how the Dursleys had not been in the house and how angry Voldemort was about it.
"Hmm, I had feared that the connection through your scar would increase now that Voldemort has recovered his body. I had not thought that it would be this intense however. Fear not though Harry, we shall attempt to figure out a way to block your connection with him. For now, just rest," Dumbledore said seeing his student battling his exhaustion.
Harry nodded gratefully and was asleep almost at once. Little did they know it, but things had just become far more complicated that anyone had ever thought possible.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The following morning did not prove to be any better for Harry. Madame Pomfrey had informed him that she had intended to let him out the day after next, but due to the vision, she would be keeping him for the rest of the week.
He had tried to protest but one withering glare from her made him shut his mouth and accept his fate.
"Oh cheer up Harry, it's not that bad. At least this way Hermione can't bug you about doing your homework," Ron said.
Harry groaned as Hermione suddenly got the crazed look in her eyes that everyone knew meant massive amounts of studying were about to be done. "Now you've done it," Harry whispered to Ron.
"Honestly Ronald! Just because Harry is stuck in bed doesn't mean he gets out of doing his work. In fact, it's the perfect opportunity as there are no distractions and there really is not much else to do," she retorted.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that Hermione," Ron said smugly. "I don't know about you, but I would be keeping an eye out on Fred and George. Somehow, they found someone to invest in their business and have been inventing like crazy. I'm willing to be that half of Gryffindor tower is already lined with pranks just waiting for innocent first years to spring them."
Hermione paled and quickly excused herself, muttering about having forgotten something in her dorm room the previous term.
Ron and Harry waited until she was out of hearing range before bursting out into laughter. "Thanks mate, I owe you one," Harry said wiping away tears of laughter.
"Nah, you'd do the same for me. Besides, this way we can play chess, " Ron said, whipping out his chess board.
Harry laughed again, already feeling cheered up by his best mates. Without further ado, they played several matches. Harry lost them all quite spectacularly.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Severus Snape was inside his quarters nursing some of his various wounds from the previous nights meeting. He cringed just thinking about it. To say the the Dark Lord had been furious was a severe understatement.
Luck had been on his side though. Voldemort was unaware that he had been the one to warn the Order of the Dursley's impending capture and murder. Frankly, he thought that they deserved whatever they got, but they were still valuable. So, he had gone along with Albus and Minerva and had apprehended the Dursley family and had moved them to Hogwarts.
That pig of a man Petunia called husband had been furious and Severus had been forced to resort to stunning him just to get him to touch the portkey which would take them back to Hogwarts.
Things had degenerated from there rather quickly and they had been forced to stun the whole family. Frankly, he had enjoyed doing it and he suspected that Minerva and Albus had as well.
He still couldn't believe it though. The Boy-Who-Lived had been abused right under their noses. How could no one have noticed! How could he not have noticed?
Far too much had happened in the past few days for him to even begin to comprehend the ramifications. What he needed was a very long, very deep sleep before he could begin to make sense of anything.
Severus sighed as he sat down on the bed but did not get in it. Why was it that everything that had to do with Harry Potter was so complicated? Even the boy's very existence was complicated and all thanks to that bloody prophecy which he didn't even know the contents of. No one did, save Albus Dumbledore himself.
How had Harry survived the killing curse though? What was it about the Potters that Voldemort desperately wanted them and their whole bloodline killed? And what did that blasted prophecy that Albus kept so hush hush have to do with it all?
Severus Snape was a man who liked answers, and far too often lately, he had been left with more questions than answers. It was time he did something about that.
He was unwilling to admit, as of yet, that he was not satisfied with Albus's responses to his questions because he was concerned about Harry. He was only just getting over the fact that Harry Potter was indeed very different from James Potter. Now that Severus was forced to see who Harry Potter truly was, he realized that he may have had his father's looks, but his personality was that of Lily.
Lily. Oh she would be turning over in her grave if she knew how her son had been treated by her older sister and Severus himself. Only days before Lily had died, she had confronted him unexpectedly. They had always been friends, despite James and Sirius's attempts, but nonetheless, her request had caught him quite off guard.
She had asked him to watch over her son should anything happen to her or James. Lily had made him promise that he would always be there for Harry if she, James, Sirius, and Remus could not be.
Severus had agreed. He never had suspected though that Lily and James would be killed only days later. He had never suspected that they would be killed at all. Sure, he had known that they were on Voldemort's hit list, but Lily had always seemed so strong to him, as did James, loathe as he was to admit that.
Even Lily and James fell to th Dark Lord only to have their infant son defeat him at the tender age of one year old. Fate certainly had a cruel sense of humor. In the aftermath of their death and the celebrations going on world wide, Severus had all but forgotten his promise until Harry Potter had walked into Hogwarts in his first year.
Severus hadn't seen Harry though. No, he had seen James and for that, he was eternally regretful. If only he had been able to see past a childhood grudge, Harry would never had to have gone through what he did with those Dursley's.
As Severus paced around his room, he reaffirmed the promise he had made to Lily all those years ago. "I will not fail you again Lily. I see how blind I have been and I hope that you can forgive me. Never again will I let anything harm Harry, not while I am still alive to prevent it," he said softly to the air.
For a moment, Severus would have sworn that his quarters suddenly didn't seem as dark and gloomy but bright and beautiful. For one second, he could have sworn that he had seen Lily Potter's green eyes gazing at him in the mirror with a smile on her face. The moment ended though and the quarters were as dark and gloomy as ever and the only person staring back at Severus in the mirror was himself.
He smiled though. Lily Potter had indeed been there and she forgave him. Climbing into bed for the second time that night, Severus Snape had finally achieved a measure of peace and for once, was truly content.
All to soon though, that measure of peace would be disturbed for someone else besides the spirit of Lily Potter had heard his reaffirmed promise.
A little gray rat who was missing one toe had heard as well and quickly scampered off to report to his master that the spy had been found at long last.