DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended

a/n: only change made to this chapter is at the end. Dumbledore's message has been changed to a Howler.

Chapter 8

Severus called Fico and ordered tea for them. Once the tea had been delivered, Snape said, "Harry, I think you know what I wish to discuss,"

"Yes, sir."

"I think it is imperative that Remus be a part of this conversation. Is that acceptable to you?"

Harry just nodded.

"First of all, you are not solely responsible for your godfather's death. You did not cast the curse that killed him. There were many decisions by many people that could have resulted in a different outcome last year. That being said, we still need to take a look at the mistakes you made so that you don't repeat them. In most families it is the parents' job to do this. Unfortunately with the lamentable examples you have had for guardians, this has probably never been done with you. I believe this is one of the ways you have been disserviced by the adults in your life. We are here to remedy that. First, you mentioned your temper. How many things on this list were affected by your temper?"

Harry sighed. "A lot of them."

"Do you remember me telling you that you must master your emotions?"

"Yes."

"Why do you think I told you that?"

Harry said in a monotone voice, "Because when I'm angry it is easier to break into my mind."

"There are other reasons. Do you know what they are?"

Harry looked up and said, "No."

"While I promised that I would not treat you as the boy-who-lived, we cannot ignore the fact that you have an insane dark wizard that wants you dead. The dark lord will take your emotions, twist them, and use them against you. When you come up against him again, as we all know you will, if you cannot master your emotions he will overcome you. You may think some of the ways I have treated you have been underhanded, but they are nothing compared with what the dark lord will do. Do you understand?"

Harry looked back down and said softly, "Yes, sir." He had to admit Snape was right. Every time Harry had come up against Voldemort he had done exactly that.

Remus said, "This is something I can help you with, Harry. Having lived with lycanthropy most of my life has caused me to have to learn to get a hold on my anger. The meditation exercises will help. But we will teach you other things you can do. But you must be willing to work at it."

Harry looked at Remus and said, "I promise I will work at it. I know I was out of control last year."

Severus said, "Good. Let's talk about the dreams. What dreams were you having last summer?"

"I was dreaming about the department of mysteries. I just didn't know it yet."

"And why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Well, at first I thought that it was to be expected now since Vol-he was back. Then I got so mad when Dumbledore wouldn't even look at me and it seemed like no one was telling me anything that I wouldn't say anything. Ron and Hermione tried to get me to tell someone, but I wouldn't."

Severus said, "What are you going to do differently?"

Harry sighed and said, "I will write my dreams down in my dream journal and share those that are necessary."

Severus said, "I think you need to share all your dreams, Potter."

Harry said, "No way! There are dreams I have that I know you don't need to hear."

Remus intervened. "Severus, you are forgetting that Harry is a 15 year old boy. I agree with him. There are certain dreams he may wish to keep to himself, and I think we should allow that."

Harry blushed. Remus knew exactly the dreams he was talking about. He said, "I knew I should have been sharing the dreams about the department of mysteries as far back as last summer. I can tell the difference between dreams and stuff sent from Voldemort, even if I may not always be able to tell if what he sent was true or not."

Severus said, "Very well. Did you ever tell anyone about how you felt about how you were being treated by the headmaster?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Well, it seemed when I would tell people things, they still wouldn't tell me anything. Like at Christmas when I told Sirius about how it felt like I was the snake. No one would tell me anything and then all of a sudden you showed up and told me I had to take occlumency lessons. No one ever sat down and explained about how he could be in my head, and I practically had to drag it out of you to get you to tell me."

Snape looked at Lupin incredulously. "You mean no one sat down with him after Christmas to explain this to him?"

Remus shook his head, "The headmaster didn't want us to tell him any more than we had to...just another example of how keeping information from him hurt him."

Severus said, "That will change, Potter. But you will have to learn to be honest with us. I don't expect you to trust me anytime soon, but I do expect you to follow the instructions I gave you yesterday. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Now, tell us about this quill of Umbridge's."

Harry said, "Umbridge had a quill that she used in detentions. When you write it cuts the words into your hand."

Severus' face was unreadable, but Remus could tell he was angry. He said, "Let me see your hand, Harry."

Harry showed Snape and Remus his hand which still had a faint white scar that said, "I will not tell lies."

"And do you know of any other students who were subjected to Umbridge's quill?"

"Lee Jordan."

Remus said, "You should have told someone, Harry. If parents had heard that this was going on, we may have been able to get rid of her. You didn't think of that did you?"

"No."

Severus said, "Most of the rest of the items on this list have to do your occlumency lessons. Are you willing to do things differently?"

"Yes. I don't want to have the dreams anymore. I will work hard to clear my mind and learn how to defend it."

"Very well. Let's talk about the night you went to the department of mysteries. Why don't you tell Remus and I exactly what happened."

So Harry recounted the day, from when he got the vision during his history test until when Sirius fell through the veil.

Severus said, "That's enough, Harry. We will talk about what happened after Sirius died tomorrow. Let's go back to when you had the dream. Did it not occur to you to tell one of the other teachers?"

"No, I didn't think they were in the order."

"Let me disabuse you of that notion right now. All the heads of houses are either in the order or supportive of it. You may come to any of us anytime there is something you think the order should know. They all know of ways to reach order members if necessary. This is another item that should have been made clear to you last year. I think it would be good if I arrange a meeting once school starts with all of the heads of houses so you will feel more comfortable coming to an adult before running off and doing something rash."

Lupin said, "Harry I think you realize you could have done several things differently. It is easier to see our mistakes after the fact, but I don't think Sirius would want you to dwell too much on this. The most important things are for you to learn to handle your anger, and be more honest with adults with what is going on with you. Part of becoming an adult is recognizing you need help. You cannot face this alone."

"But what about the prophecy?"

Severus said, "What about it? You might be destined to cast the curse that kills the dark lord, but that does not mean you rashly go battle him alone. It may be during a large battle, and to get to where you can cast the curse there will need to be others there to help you. I have noticed for several years that you have this notion that you must do everything yourself. I believe this, again, comes from the way those muggles cared for you. It is time for you to learn to reach out and get help when needed. I think perhaps later this summer I will arrange for your friends to join you here and Lupin and I will start some training to help you work together in the event the dark lord attacks."

Harry said, "Do you think I'll get to continue the D.A.?"

Severus chuckled, "I noticed that was not on your list. That was an initiative that I actually agree with. I think however, you need to have an advisor. Once we know for sure who the new defense instructor is you can make a decision. I also noticed that there were no Slytherins in the group. Not all Slytherins are evil, Harry. I think you should consider allowing some in. I'll give you a list of those I know are not involved with the dark lord."

Harry looked skeptical.

Severus said, "Tell me, Harry, are all the dark lord's followers Slytherins?"

Harry said, "No, and truth be known the sorting hat wanted to put me into Slytherin."

Severus said, "You do have some traits that are quite Slytherin, but your Gryffindor traits outweigh those. Why do you think I tend to favor Slytherins, other than needing to in order to appear to be on the dark lord's side?"

Harry thought for a moment. "Because everyone thinks they're evil. That's why I asked to be put somewhere else, because everyone told me the only dark wizards came from there. But now I know that's not necessarily true. After all, wormtail was a Gryffindor."

Severus was about to say something when Hedwig flew in carrying a red envelope. Harry's eyes widened, but she did not come to him immediately. First she dropped the letter in Snape's lap, before coming to greet her master. Unlike students, who normally looked mortified to receive such an item, Snape just opened the letter resignedly. A shout resonated through the house. "SEVERUS SNAPE I DEMAND A MEETING THIS INSTANT!"

As the letter burned, Remus said, "Why didn't he use..."

But he never finished the sentence as all sorts of sirens began to go off. Severus said over the din, "Because he obviously wanted to find us."

Harry said, "He sounded really mad."

Severus said, "Yes, he does. I think we can talk more later. It sounds like Lupin and I had best go meet the headmaster now. Please wait here. I'm sure he will want to see you. Oh, and Potter, send absolutely no letters until I have spelled that bird so it cannot be followed."