Harry knew that she was there. Even with his eyes closed, he could still feel it. It has to be her magic, that was the only explanation. He tried to ignore it and continue on with his meditation, but it pulsed in the back of his mind, steady as a heartbeat. Finally deciding that it would have to stay there, he turned his attention back to his memories.

It had been a strange couple of weeks at the Black Manor. It was wonderful to be back in the wizarding world, especially with those he felt closest to. But best of all were the dreams. Each night as he lay asleep, his parents visited in his dreams. He knew the others thought him acting a little strange to be wanting to get to sleep so early, but he shrugged it off, figuring he would tell them later. In the meantime, he was reveling in their nightly conversations, learning all of the things they had to tell him. Sometimes they talked of his past, sometimes theirs. Occasionally they talked about the future, and what it might hold, but that subject was mostly avoided.

They did breach the subject of Occlumency. While his mind was fully protected, he was glad to find out, it would still benefit him to spend some time each night sorting things out. If nothing else, it would help him control his emotions. So he spent each night trying to sort his memories, separating them by the emotion that was attached to them. It was a lot harder than he had figured. Almost all of the significant memories evoked many different feelings, making them hard to shuffle through. For example, the memory of telling Neville of the death of Bellatrix Lestrange was an especially difficult. It brought up guilt, horror, anger, sadness, and disturbingly enough, happiness. Neville had cried, whether from happiness at having his parent's attacker dead or bitterness that he couldn't do it himself, Harry didn't know. He was glad though, that it was he, not Neville that had exacted the revenge. He felt guilty for thinking that, but that was the exact way he felt. He was glad Neville didn't have that to carry around.

Eventually, he decided that he had done enough for the night, and opened his eyes. Sure enough, Hermione sat a little from the door, exactly where he had felt that pulse. Her gave her a smile, though it was a little strained after dealing with his emotions like that. She returned a more hesitant one, and then they sat there is silence. It was him that decided to break it.

"Do you know that Voldemort has a very strange mind?" He saw a look of confusion and fear pass over her face, and spoke quickly to modify what he said. "No, I haven't visited his mind recently, but I have been in it. When I was in that coma, we had a duel, and our wands connected again." He pulled a thinking look and rectified that. "Well, I guess it was the idea of our wands, since we weren't there physically...well anyway, they connected and I won. Instead of his wand repeating spells, I got a look at the inside his mind." Her face was looking split between interest and concern, so he continued on. "In fact, I still have lots of those memories in here." He tapped the side of his head, and his face took on a more somber cast. "It's messed up, the way he thinks. He enjoys the Dark Spells, of course, but he likes corrupting the light spells even more. He took the summoning charm for example, combined it with the charm that heals the breaks in bones, twisted it a little, and voila, created a spell that tears the bones from a persons body. And I know how to do that." He looked at the horrified mask on her face and tried to lighten the mood. "Well, it's not all bad. I mean, I know the twisted versions, but now I know the original versions, too. And I bet if I really wanted to, I could Apperate."

"Oh, Harry, that's wonderful. You could use that knowledge to really get ahead." She sounded excited, but his stomach was sinking. He knew he had been trying for light, but that was taking it a bit far.

"Wonderful?" He chuckled sadly, and she immediately lost her smile. "I wouldn't say that. There are darker things in my head now, things I wouldn't wish on anyone. Did you know that you can keep the Cruciatus curse on someone for exactly seven minutes and forty-seven second before brain damage becomes permanently irreversible? How about the perfect way to Imperio a strong-minded individual to commit suicide? How about the feeling of killing people, the pervasive pleasure of knowing they won't ever breath again, and it was all your doing?" Harry was hugging his knees and rocking back and forth, trying to fight off these memories even as he spoke them. Hermione was shocked, and tried to crawl closer to him, but he stopped her with a headshake.

"Harry, none of those are your memories, they belong to the insane man trying to kill you." He looked at her again, and she saw the pain in his eyes.

"I killed her, Hermione. Her and four others. I tried to Crucio her in the Department of Mysteries, and when that didn't work I burned her alive. On some level, I knew they were begging for their lives, but I didn't care. I was enjoying it too much." There was horror and disgust in his voice, and more pain then she had ever heard. "Dumbledore was worried that Voldemort would take me over. He should have been worried about what was already there."

She knew that the Death Eaters had died, and that it had most likely been his doing, but they hadn't discussed it. She finally got close to him, and touched his shoulder, trying to offer some sort of support. He fell into the fetal position on the floor, crying and whispering, "Why? Why?" She didn't have an answer for him, so she did what she could. Scooting closer, she stroked his hair, trying to think of something to convince him he wasn't a bad person, but nothing came to mind that wouldn't sound contrived. The best she could do was shush him, hoping the sound was soothing. She felt a deep protective feeling for him, and an immense anger at the people who tortured him so. She didn't know how long they sat like that, but eventually his whimpering and rocking ceased. When he sat up, he avoided looking at her face, and she thought that he might be embarrassed.

"I'm sorry about that." His words were soft, but she could tell that he felt a little better. Unfortunately, that was when they were interrupted.

"Well, Potter, if you're going to be like that, you could do the service of putting a sign on the door." Harry sighed as he felt the rage rise in him once again, and tried to counter it with his happy memories. He had the feeling that no matter how much he controlled his emotions, Snape would still dive him crazy. "I've come at the behest of the Headmaster, to set up a schedule for Occlumency lessons. I have graciously agreed to take you back, but if I find you snooping again, it's immediate expulsion." His face took on a gleeful expression, as it always did when he was thinking about punishing Harry. Harry couldn't keep a smile from his face as he responded.

"Well, Professor, I am extremely pleased to inform you that Occlumency lessons will no longer be necessary. I do thank you for your kind consideration, however." He watched with interest as Snape's face slipped toward a color that would make his Uncle proud.

"Always the arrogant one, just like your father! We'll see about that! Legimens!" Harry felt the force of Snape's mind attempt to invade, but stop short at the barrier. He shook his head and spoke in a calm voice.

"I wouldn't go any further if I were you. You won't like what you find." The increasing pressure on his mind showed that he wasn't going to listen, so Harry waited for the inevitable conclusion. In less then a minute, he felt a crack like a whip, and the force was gone. Snape curled up on the floor, clutching his arm and screaming in pain. Another person came running into the room: Remus.

"What happened? Severus, what happened?" He looked from the slightly horrified face of Hermione to Harry's calm countenance.

"Well, he tried to invade my mind, and I even told him to stop, but he decided not to listen. Now he's suffering the consequences." Remus' mouth dropped open, and he looked ready to ask another question when he was interrupted by Snape.

"What is this pain!" He sounded on the edge of shrieking, and a small, pained smile came to Harry's lips.

"If I'm not mistaken, that is the feeling of a Basilisk bite and the ensuing death from its venom." This time Snape really did shriek, and Remus looked very concerned. "Oh, don't worry, you'll be fine. The effect should be wearing off about now." True to his word, the Professor stopped struggling, and rose to his feet.

"You'll pay for doing that, Potter!" Harry blinked his eyes, not really surprised.

"So you're going to punish me for not falling to your attack of my mind? I'd like to see that report." Snape scowled, so he decided to explain. "That is what makes your lessons unnecessary. Anytime someone tries to invade my mind, they will partake of one of my many painful experiences. Maybe you want to try again? I'm sure the shattering of a forearm is nothing to the mighty Death Eater. Or maybe one of my famous Voldemort-caused headaches will suit you. How about the Avada Kedavra?" At the mention of each one, Snape's face grew paler, an astonishing feat. He finally gathered his composure and decided to take a different tact.

"The Dark Lord will not be beaten so easily." Harry bit back the temptation to laugh in his face.

"Well, Tommy and I have sorted our differences. He won't try to invade my mind, I'm pretty sure of that." He saw the shock on his face, and decided to add onto it. "I have a message for you. Actually, it's a couple of messages." There was a small pause, and then Snape shuddered.

"You carry a message from the Dark Lord? Has he uncovered my betrayal?"

"You really shouldn't jump to conclusions. No, this message is from my parents. 'Mr. Prongs extends his deepest apologies to the esteemed potions master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Certain occurrences during a certain Fifth Year grew out of control, so I'm sorry, even though considering what you did in your free time, you deserved it you great greasy git.' That was the gist of what dad said, though I think I mellowed it out a little." The teachers face was switching back and forth between outrage and confusion, while Remus and Hermione were looking concerned for his sanity. Snape made to speak, but Harry cut him off. "Don't you want to hear what Mom said? 'The Enchantress agrees with Mr. Prongs, and is immensely proud of his willingness to realize his mistakes. Though I wanted to believe that you were a victim of this prankster, it has come to my attention that you were far from innocent. Therefore, all defenses launched on your behalf are hear-by retroactively withdrawn. I had hoped you would outgrow petty vindictiveness, but I was sadly mistaken. When the moon is high, and the wolf howls again, four friends shall ride one more time.' Oops, that last part was for you, Moony. I hope you don't mind if I call you that. They gave me permission, but it's really up to you." He looked expectantly at Remus, who gave his head a shake and tried to frame a reply.

"It-it's fine." Harry smiled at him, then stretched and yawned. Well, I'm off to bed. It was nice to see you, Moony. Good night." He walked out of the room, leaving a stunned Potions Master and former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher behind. Hermione quietly followed him, trying to make sense of what she had just heard, and trying her best not to look worried. If Harry thought he was talking to his parents, things were much more complicated then she had feared. She would need to write the Headmaster right away.

Harry sat on the ground under a blowing Holly tree, trying to soak up the last remnants of his parents before he sunk back into a regular dream. Now that he had recovered, they told him, they would be returning to the other side, for good this time. They loved him, and were proud of him, and they knew he would succeed. With one final hug, they had gone, not to be seen again until he crossed over. He stood up, ready to head into his dreams, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, expecting to see that his parents had decided to come back.

Instead, the blond man that seemed to always be around in his dreams was there. Harry was surprised, as he had never actually contacted them before.

"So, are you gonna talk this time?" The man smiled at him, and held out his hand to shake.

"Indeed I am, Harry. It's nice to finally meet you. I've waited until now because I didn't want to interrupt your time with your parents." Harry nodded at this, glad that the man was so considerate. He took on a more serious expression, however, as he continued. "As you've no doubt figured, I'm an ancestor of yours, from quite a ways back. I've come to offer you a challenge." Harry's blood started racing at the thought of his offer. He had found that challenges such as this made his day, which is probably why he liked Quidditch so much. The man chuckled. "I see that you are interested. Very well, the challenge is this: You may use no magic until such time as I contact you and tell you otherwise. No spells at all, even against that Draco Malfoy character. Do you think you can handle that?" He smiled at the look on Harry's face. No magic? That would drive him crazy! Plus...

"How am I to participate in class if I don't do the spell work? The teachers aren't going to like it if I just stop working." The man shook his head.

"I'm afraid that that is your concern. You may handle it anyway that you want, so long as you don't tell them about me." Harry thought it over some more, looking into the eyes of this man from whom he descended. The gold in them seemed to intensify, until he felt he was staring into pools of molten metal. Finally, he made his decision.

"Deal."