Harry watched, lost in thought as the exit closed a little bit more for every second he spent not paying attention.
"Mr. Potter, do you intend for us to stay behind or are we going to follow the others?"
Harry turned his head in surprise to see Professor Snape standing behind him. "Uh…" He tried to look for the right words. "We'll go with them of course?" He stepped closer to his teacher and motioned him to stand at the border. Why were his hands sweating? He shook his head lightly, trying to free his mind from whatever was making it difficult to concentrate. Maybe it was the thought that he had to touch… Why would that make a difference? He muttered something under his breath and stood behind Snape raising his arms to put around the man's waist. The Professor seemed about to make a comment, but Harry pushed him forward and they fell.
If there was something Snape hated, it was surprises. And he hated them even more when he couldn't do anything to stop them and actually had to have faith in someone to save him from it. And the fact that it was Potter made it even worse. He could feel the youthful body pressed against him, the arms holding him around the waist as they fell through the empty light. It panicked him that they were not slowing down but actually getting faster. He heard a small cry behind him. He tried to look back, but all he saw was Harry's tense face next to him, carefully watching their way ahead. Then he suddenly noticed that their fall had slowed down drastically. He no longer felt the pressure of the atmosphere against him. He narrowed his eyes; he would ask about it later.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Fred watched his brother land cautiously with Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, red wings disappearing quickly from view. He dropped neatly, which was a far more elegant landing than his; he had slid on the ground until he finally was able to stop and had almost squashed Lupin and Sirius. He looked up to the entrance. Harry should be coming now with Snape.
George walked over to him. "You think he managed?"
"I don't know, I'm a little worried, I don't know how far Draco got with flying lessons…" answered his brother.
George smiled nervously. "We'll see…"
And a few minutes later Snape and Harry fell in. The young boy let go of his teacher immediately as he felt the safety of the new dimension and rolled to the side. The twins were at his side at once.
"Harry, are you alright?" George asked.
The boy nodded slowly and Fred helped him to his feet. "I'm okay. What about Professor Snape?"
"He's alright." George nodded to Lupin helping him up while Snuffles growled, annoyed.
Harry sighed, relieved; he hadn't thought he would manage it this far. "Let's continue."
Fred nodded in agreement. "Fine, but from here on we got to be cautious, this is Draco's memory we're in, we should go on ahead by foot." He scratched his nose with his finger. "Harry, can you make something like an aura bubble?"
Harry looked lost.
"I guess not then…"Fred took a deep breath. "Try to expand your aura over Snape while we go on. I don't think it would be wise for any of them to go without real protection from us." He turned to his brother. "What do you think?"
"You're right."
"Wait, how do I do this aura expansion thing?" Harry asked concerned. "Draco has only taught me a few spells, but nothing like that."
The twins sighed. "Look, to make it easy, just hold him by the hand or so and then pass your energy on to him the whole time," said Fred.
"You two will have to share your strength to get out of here," added George as he walked back to his group and created an aura bubble. "I can't risk you trying out if you can do it or not, so you'll do it the simple way."
Fred suppressed a smile at Harry's face as he returned to Lupin's side. "Let's go."
If there was a time to pout, this is it, and I will do it for the rest of the trip, Harry decided as he grabbed Snape's hand angrily and dragged him after him. And if Snape wanted to protest then he should go right ahead, so Harry would have a good reason to actually let go and leave him right there were he was. Not that he would actually do it, but the thought wasn't bad and it was definitely keeping those stupid hormones in their place.
Fred lead the way. He took in his surroundings carefully, he could feel that although they were walking through a rather secure road passing through the Slytherin's memory, that danger could not be outrun very long.
"I have a bad feeling…" he murmured.
"Should I worry?"
Fred glanced at Lupin; he hadn't realized he had said those words out loud. He smiled tensely. "Not yet, we might actually make it out unharmed…"
A little farther behind, Snape wasn't very pleased with this whole situation. "Potter, would you explain, why you're dragging me by the hand?"
Harry stopped and looked at him annoyed. "Look, Professor, I hate this as much as you do, but if you prefer to try if you can manage with out protection, be my guest. " He loosened his hand a little. "Otherwise we don't have a choice."
"I don't see the other's holding hands,." Snape said, tightening his hand around the boys', not really sure if that was the right thing to do.
Harry smiled sarcastically. An unusual expression, Snape decided, or maybe it was the fact that he had never seen it on the boy before.
"I'm not as good at this as Fred and George are," he was not in the mood to argue. "Now why don't you go ahead and lecture me about how the Boy-Who-Lived finally had to see that there are people in the world better at something than him?!" Why was he saying such things? This wasn't Snape's fault. Harry looked away ashamed of himself. "Must be that stupid sickness getting back at me…"
Severus Snape looked at the boy a little astonished. No, he was not the boy everyone had always seen anymore, he had grown into a man far earlier than anyone had expected. He had always tried to treat him harder than others to prepare him for the world. It seemed that no one else wanted to see that by protecting him or praising him, they were doing nothing more than harming him. That was not the real world; outside the walls of Hogwarts the world was cruel and cold and only the strong ones could survive. Snape had wanted to prepare him for that and it seemed that either he had done his job far too well or the boy had grown without anyone noticing. Or maybe it was that he didn't want the people to know his true self as his father had? He shock his head, James was not the issue right now, he was dead, as Snape had told him he would end up if he worked against Voldemort. No, right now his son was alive and he was visibly frustrated at something and there was also pain in his face… Pain? But before he had the chance to ask about it the ground suddenly swallowed them.
When Severus came back to consciousness, he was laying on the ground. Harry was kneeling next to him, his eyes fixed on some point ahead. Snape sat up and noticed that his hand was still in Harry's. He thanked whomever for this; he had no intention on getting stuck in one of his students' minds. He turned his head to see what Harry was starring at and as his eyes caught the figure he felt his heart stop beating in his chest.
"James…?!" He got slowly to his feet. "James?!" He couldn't believe this and apparently he wasn't the only one, Harry's hand was trembling in his.
There he stood, James Potter, in all his pride. His face had a smile that said that there was no opponent in the world who could defeat him. He had so much self-esteem that it made Snape sick. He had forgotten how much he had hated it, how much he had wanted to hit it out of Potter's face.
He tried to move closer to him, but Harry pulled him back. Snape looked at the boy confused, but he just shook his head. "This is not real…"
"What?" Severus eyes narrowed, irritated.
Harry got up, still shaking, whether this was due to his illness or the fact that his father was standing in front of him, he couldn't tell.
"I…"
"James!" A voice called.
Snape and Harry spun around at the sound of someone coming closer. There in the entrance of a building stood Tom Riddle no older than seventeen, his face amused. Next to him stood a young woman with long blond hair. She smiled at them… at James…
"Hey!" James waved at them and walked to them. Someone appeared on his right and put an arm around the dark haired boy's shoulder.
"Are you leaving without me?" Draco asked, making a hurt face.
James laughed and put his arm amiably around the other's shoulder. "When would I ever, Draco?"
"With you one never knows," said Draco.
Harry blinked unsure, this Draco was much older than the one he knew. He looked even older than Tom…
"Hey, you two, are you going to marry over there, or what?" Tom called.
The girl laughed. And James and Draco grinned from ear to ear.
"What, you got a problem with that?" Draco asked as he lowered his arm and pulled James closer with a mischievous grin.
James laughed. "Oh my Draco, not in front of people," he said in a girlish voice making an embarrassed face.
They both laughed and walked to the others.
"You two are the worst!" said Tom, shaking his head and sighing.
Then the whole world started to blur around Harry and Snape and they were back with the others.
"Harry, Professor!" Fred knelt next to them on the ground. "Are you two alright?"
Snape looked totally confused and so did Harry. The boy reached almost hysterically for the older Gryffindor's shirt and pulled at it with his hand.
"My father… Draco knew my father!!"
The others looked puzzled.
"Your father?" Lupin looked from Sirius' godson to Snape. "What is he talking about?"
George answered for Harry. "They were pulled into one of Draco's memories…" He turned worriedly to Harry. "You say you saw James?"
"Yes!" Harry's voice showed his emotional conflict.
"Are you sure it wasn't anyone else?" Fred tried to calm him.
"It was James!" Snape said annoyed and angry. "It was him!" He passed a hand trough his hair. "And there was Draco and a girl and also… Voldemort!"
Fred and George's face darkened. The others still looked rather confused.
"What are you saying?" McGonagall asked.
Harry pulled again at Fred's shirt. "Tell me you didn't know this!"
Fred reached with his hand to Harry's loosening its grip. "What are you angry at?" His voice that of an adult talking to a child. "Draco is much older than any of us, it is probable that they knew each other. Damn it, Harry, you know the position of the Head of the Council within the clans. "
He let go of the red haired boy and looked down at his hands. "I know…" he said quietly. "It's just…"
Fred laid a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I don't blame you. You were not prepared for this, nor did Draco ever tell you about it, and he probably has his reasons. You must learn to deal with this and confront it when the time comes." He paused. "And to be sincere this is not the right time, if you two got swallowed in a memory it means that Draco is waking up slowly. We must get out of here before that happens." He looked up to his twin. "What do you say?"
George bit down on his thumb. "We've got to continue flying even if it's more dangerous. It's faster, we have no choice."
"Harry." He looked up to Fred. "Can you do it?"
He nodded slowly and got to his feet, pulling Snape up with him.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Somewhere else the Dark Lord retreated into his private quarters. Or better said, his brother's old hideout. The rooms he had allowed Snape to enter. He passed a hand over the Gryffindor colors on the wall carpets. Remembering the time James used to stand here thinking, or meditating, when he wanted to be left alone.
Tom had come to the human world in order to protect his twin and at the end it had ended worse than he would have ever imagined. He had taken the life of the one he had wanted to keep alive more than anything else. He clenched his fist together as old frustration and despair rose in him. The darkness that he had guarded was taking slowly his mind and life... But he had to control it until Harry was ready to take his place as the real Head of Clan of the Visionary. He surely would have the ability to succeed where Tom had failed. Harry had what he had lacked from the start, he had the unity of his twin to absorb the darkness and return it to the world purified, he was the first Yorae born with both the powers of the Gods and Dragons after countless generations.
With James's death the darkness that collected itself in the core of the world and was absorbed by the God part of the Yorae, could no longer be returned to its origin. It gathered on and on in Tom's body giving him power, but also maddening him and pursuing him to do the darkness's biddings. There would come a time in which this darkness would completely consume him and obtain the knowledge and powers of the Gods to fight the human and the dragons. By then, it would become necessary for everyone's well being that Harry understood the complexity of their situation.
Tom had chosen this path by the time James had, for the first time, a vision about the human world. As being the other half of the Yorae Leader, it was Tom's duty to come to learn the mortal way of living and he had to admit, he had liked it. The simplicity of their existence was intriguing, they were like children, unaware of the real powers that circled and held the world. James's vision had just been the trigger to come into the world and let his body and power been reborn by a mortal woman. But something had gone wrong and Tom wondered if his brother had known deep inside that this would happen.
Separated from his twin, Tom's body could not purify the world's energy on his own and it had been a hard way to return to his own sanity. He was forced to return to the Dragon's and he couldn't be separated for too long from James. No one knew why that was the case. Tom remembered clearly the pitied expression in his brother's blue eyes as he awoke for the first time back at the Grand Sanctuary of the Visionary. He never asked the reason for it, but it seemed that even back then James had already known how everything would develop. Most painful of all were the words he spoke to him before James broke off his relationship with Drake and descended to the human world years later.
"I forgive you, Tom, never blame yourself for my choices…" James had smiled tiredly; dark rings had been under his eyes for days. "The wheels are already turning, just promise me that you will protect the one who shall follow us…"
Back then; he had not understood the meaning of those words, now he knew his twin had referred to the incident at Godric's Hollow…
He shook his head and settled at the couch Harry like to sit and read. Nagini slithered over to him and curled up next to him eyeing him curiously.
" ~What isss wrong, massster?~" she hissed.
Tom sighed. "~I wasss remembering old timesss… Timesss when my brother wasss alive…~"
"~Massster Jamesss?~"
He nodded. "~Yesss…~"
She lifted her body so she could meet his eyes with her own. "~That iss not all that isss troubling you…~"
He rolled his eyes annoyed. "~Luciuss Malfoy… he wasss here earlier…. Quessstioning Jathy'ss faith on me…~"
The snake hissed viscously before exposing her long teeth in anger. "~I'll ssstrangle him!!~"
Tom chuckled, Nagini loved Harry and if giving the chance she would kill Malfoy. "~Do not worry, I already punissshed him.~"
"~Crucio?~"
Tom nodded as he leaned back closing his eyes. He hoped the spell had not caused any effect on Harry though their link.
"~What did Draco come for yessterday?~" she changed the subject, knowing they would both end up in a bad humor if they talked too much about Malfoy Senior.
Tom remained quiet, he hadn't told Nagini about Peeves and the incident between Snape and Harry. He had promised to keep it secret for as long as possible. As long as Draco's plans were not in danger of failure due this incident, there would be no need to let others know.
"~Nothing important…~" He finally answered letting his thought drift back to his brother and the past
*Flashback*
Tom watched James carefully as the young man slept in the chair of his workshop. It wasn't that he disliked James; no, he actually held him to be one of his dearest friends and best brother, but he was no fool. He could see the dark secrets he held. Secrets that sooner or later he would be unable to stop from being known.
Tom shook his head. None of this made any sense to him. James wanted to be part of the human world, but he was the last of his kind, he couldn't simply allow such thing to happen. He knew the hardships of the magical world, as those mere humans thought to control the world. He could still remember Hogwarts, a school for young people with magical abilities to train and prepare for real life.
He smiled slightly as he continued brewing the truth potion.
Hogwarts held many memories for him. He had been a Slytherin, which was expected since his great-grandfather had been one of the founders of that school. Although, Tom had to admit he had no clue what-so-ever as to why James or other dragons seemed to be attracted to that world.
As much as there were moments he had enjoyed, there were more he'd rather not recall. In other words, he had not enjoyed very much his stay; those filthy student treating him like a mortal, the disrespect and ignorance was just repulsing. He had tried to live up to their expectations and even mastered many of the subjects as best student, but there was no pleasure in it. Any dragon could tell you that the human soul craves greatness but that of the dragons simply is waiting to live on.
Which might be the reason Dumbledore had thought that he might go down the wrong path. He chuckled. There was simply no reason for Tom to, he was the heir to the leader of his clan, if anything should happen to James, why would he want to bring any danger to those mortals? As if he wouldn't have anything better to do.
Why would James want to go anyway?
He paused to look at the sleeping dragon.
James must have his reasons, as a Yorae he could see the future. But he would not tell Tom anything and it was disturbing. He hated to think about everyone and everything. He was no strategist as Drake was, nor was he any good when it came down to analyzing people, at least not like James and Draco. He was simply good at magic, good at things he liked. Potions for example… that was certainly one of the only intriguing things he had learned at Hogwarts, which he certainly was grateful to have been taught. Not like Quidditch. As any dragon he was good in the air, he could sense the winds movement and intensions around him, which is why when it came to flying they were experts. But he was a half dragon-god not a human, and he liked to spread his own wings, and let himself be carried by the waves.
He smiled unconsciously, his attention once more directed at his potion.
"You do think too much."
Tom looked up surprised and saw James standing next to him, yawning. "What do you mean?" He hadn't noticed the other's approach.
"You had that face again." James chuckled. "The one that says: Don't dare to distract me I'm trying to figure out the meaning of the world."
"Well if you knew that then you might as well have continued sleeping." Tom hated it when James knew what was in his mind.
"You're still angry because I'm going?" his twin laid a hand on his shoulder.
"James, I can't stop the feeling that this is wrong. You shouldn't go. You're the last Yorae!" He hit the table with clenched fist and James barely caught a stable of books from falling on the floor. "What about Drake? I thought you two were happy! I don't see why you would want to go!!"
"Tom-"
"James!"
*End Flashback*
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Harry was starting to feel tiered from sharing his already low energy with the Potion Master. His legs felt like jelly, he was just thankful that they didn't have to walk. Although, flying with invisible wings and caring Severus Snape was not exactly a field trip either. He was falling behind Fred and George little by little and the illness was starting to slowly make itself known to him again. His breathing was starting to come in short gasps and his fever was returning as well. Sometimes even his vision would blur for a moment.
A short while back, Fred had announced that they must reach Draco's consciousness, before his mentor awoke or they would end, trapped in his subconscious. Once there it would be easier to get out and the level of danger would lower since Draco might notice their presence in his mind and kick them out on his own.
Harry wasn't sure how Fred knew this, but then again, Harry knew very little of the ways of the Dragons compared to the twins.
"Potter, you're slowing down." Snape turned his head to him. "You look like you need some rest." He sounded concerned.
"We can't make a stop, it's too risky…" he answered, his back was hurting painfully, more than before.
"I don't want you to let us drop down, let alone perish in a Malfoy's mind."
Harry sighed, for a moment he had though Snape was truly concerned for his well-being. Of course, the man was just thinking of himself!
Suddenly the path lightened up blinding them all. Harry lost balance and was barely able to remain in the air. Then as quickly as the light had come it vanished. Instead of that they found themselves in a large building in ruins . The seemingly ancient stonewall were covered with green plants and grass and trees had grown here and there. Further ahead, Harry noticed Fred and George descending to the ground. He followed suit, relived, but his legs gave away under him and Snape had to catch him in his arms. Harry blushed as he held on to the older man. His hormones were raging wildly through his body, as dark eyes fixed on his. Trying to take a step away from the professor he tumbled weakly against a tree. A hand remained closed around his keeping the needed contact.
Severus watched the boy move, almost fainting away on him. Potter's energy was waving like a stormy ocean out of him and towards Severus synchronizing as it calmed down again. The boy's face was flushed and he seemed to be in fever. Of course, he was still sick yet he kept on sharing his energy with him. Why?
Not knowing exactly what he was doing, Severus took a step closer to the boy and picked him into his arms. Harry gave a startled little yelp as he starred shocked up to him.
"You're in no state to walk," he simply answered before proceeding to walk to the others who were checking out their surroundings.
Black growled at him as he sighted them but Remus amiably slapped him on the back of his head and quieted him. "This is not the time, Siri!"
The dog made a hurt sound snuggling up to his friend. Remus and Severus rolled their eyes.
"Where are we?" Dumbledore asked.
George passed thoughtfully a hand through his hair. "I think we just made our way out of Draco's subconscious… Meaning the exit must be somewhere here."
"Then let's start searching." The headmaster suggested.
Fred looked at Harry in Snape's arms. "You alright, buddy?"
The boy shook his head. "I'm tired… and I don't feel well…"
"Maybe it would be better if you remain here and get some rest, while we look around." George said looking at the Potion Master who nodded before kneeling down and settling Harry against a wall and sat down next to him.
Sirius wanted to protest but Remus and the others dragged him along away.
Harry closed his eyes trying to calm his heartbeat and to force by pure will the fever to leave him be. Severus watched the boy's face; lips partly open breathing heavily and his hair looked rather messy and wild. He was sweaty. He tentatively reached out unaware that he was doing so and pushed some bangs back behind the ear and froze. They were long and pointy.