The New Year passed before Penny even realized. Recovering from her outburst in Professor Snape's office took longer than she anticipated. Her energy levels were low and she felt like there was a needle constantly pressing into her skull. By some miracle, Dumbledore had not forced her to stay in the Hospital Wing. He felt it better to rest and return to her normal activities as soon as possible. Thankfully, Professor Snape left her with Dumbledore after the incident, allowing Penny to ask about the peculiar connection she'd become cognizant of.

Professor Dumbledore did not look surprised by her confession, rather, he smiled sadly at her.

"It seems the red string of fate has brought you together, and while I do not believe in destiny, there is magic we have only just begun to understand. But, coincidentally, I have some knowledge of what you speak of," he said, looking grave.

Penny, feeling hopeful, begged the headmaster to explain further.

"Grindelwald had the experience you describe, as have others before him. The individuals expression is attracted to are known as coordinates, which means to "bring the elements of expression into a relationship that creates harmony within its bearer."

"Harmony? But why is it only-"

"Professor Snape," said Dumbledore, anticipating her question, and looking as interested as she felt.

Penny's chest had felt on the verge of exploding, rendering her unable to form words, she nodded her head vigorously, waiting on the edge of her seat as though the big reveal of her favorite show were about to happen.

"Because just as the magnetic field of this lovely planet we share creates only two magnetic poles, magic too, operates within its own natural law. While we do not know for what reasons the coordinate is chosen, the phenomena is documented well enough for us to be certain, like oppositely charged magnets, the two are drawn together by a force that is extremely difficult to oppose."

"Grindelwald was drawn to someone? I have never heard of him caring about anything other than himself," Penny said, skeptically.

"Much like Voldemort, Grindelwald sought power above all else, and like Voldemort, this created great fear in him. The kind of interdependence created within a dyad was seen only as weakness to him. He sought to wield his expression for domination purposes, he could not do so while seeing himself reflected back at himself through someone else," Dumbledore replied, thoughtfully

"That's really sad, I wonder what the other person must have felt when they finally converged."

Dumbledore fixed her with his blue eyes, the twinkle that was normally there, replaced with a heaviness.

"Lonely, I imagine," he said, distantly, gazing over Penny's shoulder as though there were something he saw beyond her.

He was quiet for a long moment, but then he forced a smile to his face, "It is a lot to mull over, I will trust you and Professor Snape to discuss the details of the connection when you are ready. But I would encourage you, Penny, to remember your path is not Grindelwald's, and while his experience can give insight into your abilities, you are not bound by it. Learning to control your expression is a process of understanding yourself, and often, it's those closest to us who see us most clearly," Dumbledore said, kindly, sending her on her way to think on his words.

The damned words had haunted her, everything Dumbledore spoke of made her feel horrifically helpless. Penny did not like the idea of being reliant on anyone, especially for something as serious as not accidentally killing herself, but Grindelwald had managed on his own, which was a thought that only served to send her on a spiral of obsessing that she might end up like him. The trail of thoughts were so awful, Penny was unable to share the events of the night with Harry, fearful of what he would say. Though she knew Harry would always love her, she had a hard time coming to terms with how much of her life had been torn from her control. Yet, lying to Harry left a knot in Penny's stomach, and the stress of this lie, piled on top of having not mentioning her encounter and pact with Tom to anyone, felt as though it would crush her.

None of these thoughts helped her mood, which was already all over the place since the Yule Ball. Penny simply did not have the energy to face Cedric and deal with what his intentions were. Snape's words remained solidly buried in her chest, tainting her perception of Cedric, which annoyed her. But she found she did not spend much time thinking on it, and avoided the boy, figuring she would talk to him once classes started again.

Since her 'outburst', Penny found herself stricken with night terrors that she would be ripped from sleep by, waking in a cold sweat. Every night she relived the torture of herself and those animals in the ministry, hearing their cries and feeling the magic within her move through her veins like she was watching it move through the percolator, making its way to silence life, forever. Even when she'd wake, she was still uncomfortably aware of it within her, putting her on the verge of a panic attack. After several nights of this, Penny suddenly hated sleeping, and avoided her bed at all costs, a choice that only made her exhaustion worse. It was like being a little kid again, as soon as the sun would begin to set, she would become full of dread, her heart deciding to pick up its pace and make it impossible to relax enough to sleep.

Penny considered asking Snape for a sleeping potion, but she knew they were addicting and not able to be taken long term. Going down that rabbit hole only seemed like more misery, so she'd taken to napping sitting up right during the day in the owlery. The vibrations of life surrounding her, lulled her into a calm state, and in the safety of it, napped in the corner where she was certain other students were not likely to notice her. Several of the owls often perched on her and slept alongside her. Having never had her own pet, Penny found the experience heartwarming.

On Sunday afternoon, the day before classes would begin again, heading to the Gryffindor common room after her nap, Penny noticed a familiar blond head inside an unused classroom on the 6th floor. Altering course, she entered it and plopped down on the desk he was sitting on.

"You look awful," Draco said, scrutinizing her appearance.

"Thanks, so do you," Penny scowled.

His normally vibrant skin was dull, his hair was a mess and he looked like he had not eaten in days.

"I've just been arguing with Blaise."

At this, he looked away from her and began shooting holes in the ugly tapestry at the back of the room with his wand.

"About what? It looked like you worked things out at the Yule Ball."

Draco's face darkened and he turned to Penny. " Blaise had no objections to a passionate night, the objections conveniently came the next morning when I pushed the subject of making things official again,"

"Is it your family name still?" asked Penny, feeling irritated that Blaise would do something like that.

"He refuses to get into it, says he'd like to keep his options open and see where "things take him," he sneered." "I'm a Malfoy! And he, the child of a gold digging whore! As far as I'm concerned, it's over."

Penny draped her arm around Draco, startling him. She squeezed tightly and said, "Good, you know your worth. Because screw anyone who would treat you like that. Blaise does not deserve someone like you, but I am sorry you are sad."

"I'm not sad!" he said, his cheeks flushing pink at the suggestion.

"Right," Penny smiled, pulling away to enjoy the pretty pink on his fair features. "You need to date someone more like my brother, it's a pity you two can't get over your squabbling."

If possible, Draco seemed to become even redder and floundered for words.

"I am a pureblood!"

"You purebloods really need to read Romeo and Juliet, blood doesn't matter when love is involved," Penny laughed.

Draco turned away from her and began shooting the tapestry again.

"I don't think I'll date anyone again after Blaise," he muttered.

Penny sprang to her feet and stepped between Draco and the tapestry to give him a fierce stare.

"Don't you dare let that unworthy twat ruin the happiness that's waiting for you. He's a coward, you are not. When he works it out, he will realize what he missed. There is someone as emotionally capable as you out there, and I know you'll find them," Penny said with more force than she intended.

Draco's narrow grey eyes watched her, and then he let out a great sigh and ran his hand through his messy blond locks.

"Thanks, Penny."

"Did I hear that right, a Malfoy said thank you?" she teased.

"Yeah, just don't tell anyone," he replied, rolling his eyes at her.

"No one would believe me, anyway."

"Since we are on the topic of failing love lives, why don't you tell me what happened with Diggory and why he is spending so much time with that annoying Ravenclaw girl," Draco said, cooly, patting the empty space beside him.

Penny grimaced at the mention of Cedric and took the seat reluctantly.

"What makes you think anything happened," Penny asked, trying to gauge what she would be forced to divulge.

"Roger Davies has been telling everyone he saw Cedric kiss you at the Yule Ball, it's a pity that only the Chang girl doesn't seem to believe it," he said, an air of disgust in his tone.

"He tried to kiss me, but Snape interrupted us."

Draco snorted with laughter causing Penny to hit him in his side.

"Sorry, but you honestly have the worst luck."

"Maybe it was good luck if Cedric and Cho seem to be a thing," Penny pointed out, trying not to sound miserable.

"There is no chance in hell anyone in their right mind would choose that docile airhead over you," Draco said, sounding offended at Penny's assumption.

"Well it doesn't matter anyway, I've kinda been avoiding him, so he probably figures I'm not interested now."

"Lucky for you, as you noted earlier, I am an emotionally capable individual and my advice to you is: grow a pair, or, uhh, I don't know the gender inclusive version of that saying, but you're in Gryffindor, aren't you supposed to be annoyingly unafraid to say what you're thinking?" he said, his eyebrow raised.

"I have plenty of courage, thank you. But I do have a brain, and I'm not that keen to be made a fool of," Penny said, testily.

Slytherins really had no sensitivity.

"Who told you he'd make a fool of you?" Draco said, his eyes narrowing.

It was Penny's turn to turn red this time. "No one! I just thought things through after the Yule Ball," she replied, a bit too quickly.

"Am I supposed to believe that lie?" he drawled, eyelids heavy.

"I've no idea why you'd think I was lying," Penny replied, turning away from him.

"I'm gonna go out on a very short limb here and say it was Snape. In which case, you had to see that coming."

"What makes you think that, and why should I have seen it coming," Penny said, trying to hide her desperate curiosity by tracing her lower lip with her finger.

"I'm not touching that with a ten-foot rod. You and Snape are bizarre, and perhaps one day you'll stop being in denial about it. But whatever he said, he was wrong," Draco said, giving an impatient click of his tongue.

"How can you be sure," she said, finally turning to him, her eyes wide.

"Because Malfoys know everyone's business, therefore I am confident in saying Diggory has been in love with you since last year, so do stop trying to sabotage yourself."

"Pretty sure it's you I'm in love with," Penny gushed, feeling oddly relieved.

"Don't worry, doll, I have that effect on a lot of people," he smirked.

He jumped off the desk and gave himself a stretch, yawning.

"Won't you tell me what you meant about Snape," Penny asked, following suit.

He gave her a peculiar look, his perfect baby-like skin crinkling momentarily as his brow furrowed.

"Sometimes it's like there's a force between you, pulling you two together. There' s something there, but like I said, I'm not touching it," he said, giving her a, my-father-is-best-friends-with-Snape-who-is-also-the-head-of-my-house look that made her drop the subject.

Penny left Draco, thinking over everything he had said, not realizing where her steps were taking her. She came to her senses when she tripped and barely caught herself. Blinking, she realized she was standing at the bottom of dungeon stairs looking down the corridor that led to her potions classroom and across the way, Snape's office.

She blinked, unsettled that her feet had brought her here without her brain knowing. She was also unnerved because she hadn't seen Snape since their fight and Dumbledore's explanation. Part of her wanted to move forward, his office door was a-jar. But the other was afraid to find out how he would look at her. Draco's words about being a Gryffindor drifted through her mind, causing her to take several determined steps forward. But then she stopped, suddenly unwilling to go any further. She turned tail and made for the stairs, her hand grasping the rail.

"Where do you think you are going, Ms. Potter," his silky voice said, stopping her in her tracks.

"To my common room?" Penny said, tring to continue forward.

"The Gryffindor common room is on the 7th floor in Gryffindor tower, so why, pray tell me, did you come to the dungeons?"

Penny could almost hear the narrowing of his eyes, knew his dark eyes were boring into her back, but she just remained frozen, mid-step, like an idiot. Straightening up, she turned around.

"I don't know," she said, honestly, studying him as though he held the answer to the question.

If he didn't believe her, he gave no sign of it, he merely considered her for a long moment.

"Since your oaf-ish footsteps have already disturbed me from what I was doing, you may as well come inside," Snape said, turning briskly to return to his office without waiting for her response.

"What do you mean, oaf-ish" she raged, chasing after him.

He made it to his desk and took a seat, grinning horribly at her.

"Precisely what it sounds like, you have no subtly,"

"Subtly? I have no need for such a thing," she said, definitely.

"Don't you? Curious, considering it looked to me like you were running away just a moment ago," he said, challenging her with his brow.

"I told you, I don't know how I made it down here, I've been tired lately."

"I can see that," said Snape, giving her a severe look. "You look as though you have not slept in a week."

"That's because I haven't," Penny said, looking decidedly away from him to observe his office.

The last time she'd seen it it'd been a mess of goo and glass. She wondered vaguely how much effort it'd taken Snape to clean it. There was no evidence of their skirmish, it was as though she'd imagined the entire thing.

"Do you think you could try for one week of your life not to be suffering from something," he said, impatiently.

"I'm not suffering from anything!" Penny replied, irritated.

"Oh? awake pining for true love, then?" he asked, cooly.

Penny turned back to meet his smug expression.

"No, actually, been having dreams about the Ministry, but thanks for asking," she said, darkly.

His expression undisturbed, he bent forward and placed his chin into his hands and said, "Go on."

"Uhh-I can't get the images out of my head so I can't sleep for more than two hours at a time," Penny stammered, caught off guard.

"Would you like help?" he asked, tapping his lower lip with his pointer finger.

"With what?"

"Getting the memories out of your head," he said, giving her an impatient eye roll.

"Oh," she said, lamely, and then continued, "You can do that?"

"With this, I can," Snape said with a wave of his wand.

A shallow stone basin landed between them, on which runes, strange symbols were carved alongside stones fixed to its exterior. Inside was a silvery substance.

"I've never used a pensive," Penny said, realizing what she was looking at.

"It matters not, I can remove the problem memories."

"Alright," Penny said, nervous excitement rising from the pit of her stomach.

"Tut tut, manners, Potter. If you wish to receive, you must ask first," Snape, chided, smoothly.

"You're really doing this to a poor, suffering girl?" said Penny in an accusatory tone.

"Spare me your melodrama," he said with a bored expression.

"Fine. Will you help me?" she asked, resentfully.

He merely stared at her, an unimpressed eyebrow disappearing into his hairline.

"Please," Penny blurted out, indignantly.

"That was about as eloquent as your stride. However, I realize you have a severe incapability when it comes to communication, so I shall be merciful, today," he said in a tone of mock concern, taking pleasure in watching her face twist in irritation as Penny forced herself not to respond, desperate for the man's help.

Snape slid the pensive aside and lent toward Penny, his wand raised. Penny leaned in as well, knowing already that he would need to extract the memories from her mind, usually via the temple.

"You'll need to maintain eye contact, and concentrate on the memory you want removed," Snape instructed.

Penny nodded, feeling stupidly nervous as their eyes locked. With a steadying breath, she fixed her thoughts on that horrible night at the Department of Mysteries, allowing all the images to flash across her vision like a slideshow. The cool end of Snape's wand pressed against her skin, his lips moving, though no sound left them, and his dark eyes stared into hers, pulling her thoughts from her. Penny could not describe how difficult it was to focus on Snape while feeling mildly alarmed by the intensity of his stare while also maintaining the flow of images. She became distracted a few times and almost broke eye contact. But then, very gradually, the images receded until she was just staring at her potions master. It was an unnerving experience, Penny knew what the memories were, but she could no longer call them to the forefront of her mind.

The movement of his lips had stopped, his concentrated stare ebbing away. Their eyes lingered on each other longer than was normal. Both of them seemingly unwilling to break eye contact first. Surprising even herself, she reached up with a shaking hand and touched the wrist that held the wand connected to her temple. It was smooth to the touch, and the familiar zap of electricity passed between them, but Snape didn't flinch away, making Penny wonder if he felt it too. She stared at him, his face expressionless, hiding his thoughts behind that wall of his.

Had Dumbledore told him what he told Penny? Was Penny supposed to tell him? What did a 'coordinate' experience? Why Snape? Would she need him nearby for the rest of her life? The reeling of questions sent a sharp pang to her head, and she subconsciously broke contact with him to rub her forehead just above her eyebrow, as though it would make the pain go away.

Without a word, he pulled the sticky goo from her head and dropped it into the basin where it swirled and the images that had been tormenting her looked back up at them. Out of respect for her privacy, Snape did not look, choosing instead to turn back to her.

"If that is all, then I should inform you, the headmaster wishes me to give you extra lessons to work on controlling your expression," said Snape, returning to his air of impatience.

"Why?" Penny blurted out, quickly adding, "sir," upon catching Snape's mutinous glance.

"I would have thought that was apparent, but the headmaster feels it unwise to let things continue as they were," Snape said, slowly.

"But what can you teach me?" said Penny, realizing too late how rude her tone of disbelief came off.

"As a professor at this school, I am qualified to teach many things," Snape said, icily. "But the focus will be on the relationship between magic and emotions, in the hope that by being a more emotionally stable person, we will not repeat," he said, laying a delicate stress on, "the other night."

Penny snorted with laughter. "I'm pretty sure you're more unhinged than me, it sounds to me like Dumbledore wants to amuse himself," Penny smirked, imagining what a fiasco such lessons would be.

"Do not mock me, Potter, or I will be forced to chastise you," he said in a dangerous voice, tapping the desk with his fingers, impatiently.

"At this rate, some might wonder if you like punishing me, professor." Penny replied, cooly. "But can you blame my skepticism, the only two times I've lost control was with you," Penny went on.

"Do catch up, Potter, that is the point," said Snape, his lip curling in cruel excitement.

"What-wait. . .no-" Penny gaped, realization spreading across her like the twisted grin did across Snape's thin mouth.

"You do like punishing me!" Penny exclaimed, feeling his betrayal keenly.

"Hardly, but I could scarcely disagree with the headmaster that I am uniquely qualified for such a task," his velvety voice said, causing Penny to shudder.

She stared at him in horror, his features displaying far too much satisfaction for her tastes. It was evident the point of the lessons were to push her to her limits and bring her to the brink of a breakdown in order to train her to maintain control. Of course Dumbledore had selected Snape for this job, the man was insufferably good at driving her to her breaking point. The prospect of lessons that entitled him to free-reign of pissing her off would be the nightmare to replace the one she'd left in the pensive.

"Do not worry, Potter, I'll be sure our time is utilized to its fullest extent," Snape said, very softly.

Penny moaned in despair, got to her feet and made her way toward the door refusing to respond to the man. He let her go without a word, satisfied with the offering of her misery. There would be no escape come Monday, Penny was trapped in Snape's snare. He would help her, that much was true, but he would be sure to relish making her suffer in the process. Malfoy was right, she had terrible luck.

Somehow fate had connected her to the man who was going to use that red string to tie her up and watch her drown. He was a sadist, that she was sure of, but if opposites attract, what did that make her? The answer was one Penny did not want to know.