AN: I really have to apologise for how long overdue this chapter is. Life got away from me a bit and it just seemed to take ages to finish. Anyway, excuses over...happy reading.

Chapter 47

The next evening, Harry was in Snape's office once again for their regularly scheduled meeting. Tea in hand and pleasantries over with, Severus wasted no time in getting to important topics.

"Would you rather start and choose what you talk about or is it easier if I ask specific questions?"

Harry frowned. "Questions about what?"

"About your time with the Dursleys."

"What? You want to talk about this now?"

"You agreed to talk about this if you're not going to prosecute."

"Yeah, but I thought we were saying that we would talk at some point in the future, not today."

"Today is 'the future'." Severus countered with a smirk. "So how would you like to do this?"

"Urgh." Harry grumbled in defeat. "Fine. Ask away."

"Why don't you tell me about what school was like? You went to a muggle primary school, I assume?" Severus asked, not wanting to start with anything too difficult.

"Yeah, what's that got to do with anything? I thought you wanted to know about the Dursleys?

"I want to know about your experiences before you came to Hogwarts. Your school was part of that experience."

"Alright then, yes, I went to our local primary school with Dudley."

"Did you have many friends there?"

Harry shook his head. "It wasn't so bad when we were little, I got on okay with everyone, but Dudley became a bit of a bully. Half of the class became his friends and the rest were too scared of him to befriend his primary target."

"He bullied you then?"

Harry shrugged. "It wasn't so bad, mostly just Harry Hunting and I was too quick for them most of the time."

"Harry Hunting?" Severus repeated with a slight edge to his voice.

"That's what Dudders and his little gang called it when they chased me. I suppose things would have been worse if they were able to catch me more often, but I was quick and agile and every so often the accidental magic kicked in and I would end up apparating somewhere else entirely."

"And if you didn't manage to get away?"

"They'd push me around, rough me up a bit." Harry admitted. "I gave as good as I got, verbally at least."

"You mean you wound them up." Severus remarked dryly.

Harry grinned mischievously. "I can't help myself."

"Yes, now you mention it, that is something I have observed with you." The Professor mused. "You've never been particularly chatty, you're certainly not generally eloquent, yet when you come up against an adversary, you always seem to run your mouth."

"I dunno," Harry shrugged. "I don't like hearing crap from idiots. It was always so satisfying to watch them lose their cool just from what I said; Dudley, Malfoy, Voldemort. Not you of course. I didn't often come out on top when it came to verbal sparring with you."

"Years of practise." Severus smirked. "Were your teachers unaware?"

"My aunt and uncle would tell the teachers at the start of the year that I was a troublemaker, that I was a liar. In the end I wouldn't bother trying to tell them anything. It was easier just to keep my head down. Being at school was better than being at home anyway."

"The school holidays have never been a happy time for you then?"

"Nope." Harry quipped, though Severus didn't miss the edge of bitterness. "Even later, when I got to go to the Weasleys it was great, but nowhere felt like home like Hogwarts did."

Severus nodded, all too familiar with that feeling. He switched topics without preamble. "Tell me about the cupboard."

Harry sighed. He knew Severus had been hung up on the 'cupboard' thing since he first mentioned it. He supposed it was the kind of thing which sounded objectively horrifyingly, it just hadn't been a subjectively terrible part of Harry's experience.

"It was the cupboard under the stairs." He clarified, watching the professor's face carefully for his reactions. He appeared calm, but Harry knew there was no one more experienced at concealing their emotions than Severus. "That was my bedroom growing up. I didn't know any different, so it didn't really bother me. It was where I slept and where they sent me if they wanted me out of the way." He saw a twitch in Severus' jaw from his clenched teeth. "I really didn't mind." Harry tried to reassure. "It was my space. They never came in there, so while I was in there I was safe from them. I was good friends with the spiders." He tried to joke.

Severus didn't laugh, he couldn't even raise a smile. He was picturing the skinny boy, drowning in his Gryffindor robes, that had turned up at Hogwarts. He pictured that boy, young and alone, sitting in his cupboard with not a soul in the world who cared for him.

"Are you okay?" Harry's quiet, concerned voice pulled him out of the imagery. Typical of Potter to be concerned for someone else when it was him reliving his childhood trauma. "You're not saying anything."

Severus swallowed around the ache in his throat so he could force something out. "It is difficult to find words."

Harry flopped back in his chair and waved his arm. "This is why I don't want to talk to you about this stuff. It just makes you angry and upset and it doesn't even bother me that much. It really wasn't that bad!"

Severus was sick of hearing Harry say that it 'wasn't that bad'. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "You need to stop saying that."

"But it wasn't!" Harry argued. "Most of the time they just ignored me. It's not like I was beaten black and blue everyday."

"Does your reluctance to talk about your experience stem from your feeling that it could have been worse? That it has been worse for other people?" Severus asked knowingly.

"I guess." Harry said, suddenly less certain. "I know the Dursleys weren't nice people and I know that they didn't treat me…well. I just don't feel like it was abuse. Other people have it much worse than I have had."

"Draco's childhood home, as I'm sure you can imagine, was not a particularly warm one to grow up in, but his mother loved him and he was never in want of food or clothes, or anything for that matter. His experiences, objectively, were not as bad as yours, does that mean that he didn't suffer? Does that mean that he can never complain about what it was like to grow up with a cold, demanding Death Eater for a father? Are his experiences not valid because he wasn't starved and locked in a cupboard?"

"No." Harry said quietly, his mind churning over what Severus said.

"Suffering is subjective, Harry." The professor spoke more gently. "You don't need to compare your experience to anyone else's, and you certainly don't need to excuse it."

Fortunately for Harry, Severus didn't insist on deep and meaningful conversations every time they met, so Harry didn't mind dropping by the Deputy's office. He did so frequently, in fact. It was becoming part of his routine, to have dinner and then head down to the dungeons to chat, or practise his magic, or just study quietly at the desk. He seemed to end up there every other night.

That night, however, Harry wasn't with Snape, he was up in the Room of Requirement with the other 8th Years and the rest of the DA.

"Harry," Wilbur Smitherman, a freckled Hufflepuff 5th Year, approached him while the whole group was taking a break. "Can you teach us the patronus charm? It's on the sixth year syllabus anyway and you taught all the older years when they were in their 5th Year – some of them even younger!"

"Technically, dementors are on the 6th Year curriculum and you learn the about the patronus charm but not actually how to cast it." Harry said, amused by the lad's hard sell when he was quite happy to teach them the spell.

"But –" Wilbur's look of utter despair broke Harry with a chuckle.

"Relax! I'll teach you." He assured. "Don't get too excited though, it will take time and a lot of practise to even get the mist of the spell, let alone a corporeal patronus."

His warning didn't dampen Wilbur's enthusiasm, who smiled broadly in excitement. "Of course, we'll work really hard, promise! I'll go and tell the others, thanks Harry!"

He ran off to tell the huddled group of 4th and 5th Years and Harry turned back to his friends.

"Looks like I'll be occupied for the rest of the session, what have you lot got planned?"

"We're going to practise some different group dueling formations." Ron said, gesturing to a collection of the 8th and 7th Years.

"I'll come and help you teach the Patronus, if you like?" Ginny offered.

"Sounds good." Harry smiled, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

They headed over towards the younger years, leaving space for the others to duel safely, but were stopped by a voice calling out to them.

"Hey, Potter." Harry turned to see Draco, though he had already sensed him behind them from his magic and Dark Mark. "I'll help too. If – that's alright?"

Harry sensed some vulnerability in Draco's question, as well as hope that he would be accepted. "Sure." He agreed easily. "More the merrier."

Harry loved teaching the patronus charm so he had no qualms about missing out on the fun magical games in which the older years were participating. The process of finding a happy memory and projecting that emotion outwards, filled the room with a deep sense of contentment. Also, though they wouldn't find out today, it was great to guess, and later discover, what each of their patronus forms would take.

"Today we'll just learnt he charm, practise the words and the wand movement, so you've got that down." Harry told the group. "You'll also want to start thinking of a memory. The patronus charm is powered by strong emotion which you can get from a strong and positive memory." Harry began demonstrating the charm to the attentive 5th and 6th Year students. Ginny and Draco walked amongst the group as they began to practise, correcting their form and pronunciation. Harry felt the pleasant thrum which he got from teaching, a sense of pride that came from passing on a skill and watching his students flourish.

"Take a moment to think of your memory." Harry said once they were competent in the mechanics of the spell. He encouraged them to sit down and relax on the abundant cushions the room provided. "The Dementors feed off of negative emotions so you need positive emotions to fight them. The stronger your emotions, the more powerful your patronus will be. Close your eyes and picture your memory, remember the emotions that you were filled with then, happiness, fun, joy, allow those feelings to flow through you again. When you come across a Dementor they will begin to affect your emotions before you even know they're there, so you have to have your memory and the positive emotions it elicits ready to go. If you know it well now, you'll be able to summon it more easily later."

Harry let them practise casting again after that, with Draco and Ginny as his teaching assistants as they made their way around the students correcting and encouraging them where needed. He was pleased to hear Draco murmuring quiet encouragement to one of the young Slytherins who was there, recounting his own struggles with the spell. Harry called an end to their practise after only a further 20 minutes or so, conscious of the energy the young students were using and wary of causing any of them magical exhaustion. Only two students had manage to produce anything and only then had it been a light mist, but this was enough success to enthuse the rest of the group that with a bit more practise they too could soon be casting the spell with success and they left the Room of Requirement chatting animatedly.

The 7th and 8th Years finished up their training soon after and were also packing up to go. Ginny gave Harry a quick kiss goodnight before she left with the other 7th Year Gryffindors who were headed back to the tower.

"You coming, mate?" Ron called over to him as he chivalrously loaded more than half of Hermione's substantial book collection into his own arms. He wouldn't dream of suggesting she shrink them down to carry, knowing exactly Hermione's thoughts on how that would 'damage the covers' and 'crease the pages.'

Harry looked over at Draco, who was still milling about picking up cushions, before he answered Ron. "You go on, I'll catch you up."

Ron, now far more observant than he ever was when they were kids, gave Harry an assessing look before he nodded with apparent satisfaction. "Alright," he said easily before adding, "I'll keep an eye on my coin."

Harry smiled gratefully, appreciating Ron's ever-present back-up, though he had no expectation that it would be needed in this case.

Once Ron and Hermione had gone, Harry called out to Draco before he could leave. The Slytherin looked up with some surprise but came over to where Harry was stood.

"Thanks for your help tonight." Harry said, watching as more of the DA left. "I feel like that went a lot smoother than the first time I taught the Patronus charm." He grinned. "Much less chaotic with some helping hands."

Draco shrugged humbly. "I suppose it helps that I've been in their position, struggling with that particular spell. I can see where they're going wrong."

Harry nodded, watching the door click shut as the last students left. He turned back to Draco as the room went quiet.

"I've got a favour to ask."

"Okay." Draco said warily.

"I'd like to look at your Dark Mark."

Draco froze. Harry waited, aware of the magnitude of what he was asking. Draco began to move again. He stepped back and his expression morphed into one of horror and then anger. "What the fuck, Potter?" He spat.

"I know – "

"Isn't it enough that you know it's there? That everyone knows it's there. You have to see it for yourself? You want me to showcase what I did?"

"No, I'm not asking you so I can gawk at it, I don't want you to show anyone else. I'm not judging you." Harry promised. "Please, just hear me out."

"Fine. Talk."

Harry paused while he thought of where to start. You've probably heard about my magic," he began. "I think the whole school heard about the Barn incident." Draco gave a small but perceptible nod, so Harry went on. "It started after the battle. I started feeling magic differently. Part of it is being more powerful." He admitted. "But I tune into other people's magic too. It didn't start as much but it's got stronger."

"What does that mean, you 'tune into people's magic'?" Draco asked, still somewhat hostile.

"It's like I can sense people's magic. I can feel it and if I really focus, I can see it too." Harry tried to explain. "All witches and wizards have magic around them and leaving them all the time, and it's channeled when we cast spells. I can see the colours."

"Colours?"

Harry nodded. "Everyone's magic has a colour."

"What's this got to do with – my arm?"

"I sort of figured out that I can feel the Dark Mark." Harry said gently. "I can feel Riddle's magic in the mark."

Draco's expression was predictably horrified. "How the fuck do you know that?"

"Because it's the same thing I felt when those Death Eaters tried to attack me. I feel the same thing when I'm around you and when I'm around Severus. And I had this – connection with Riddle's magic so I recognise it as his."

Draco took a deep, shuddering breath. "That's messed up."

Harry let out a humorless chuckle. "You're telling me."

"So, why do you need to see it?"

"Severus let me look at his to confirm my theory. I think I might be able to remove the Mark but Severus freaked out when I suggested trying it, so he won't let me see anymore."

"How?"

"How?"

"How would you get rid of it?" Draco questioned.

"I'm not totally sure." Harry admitted. "Like I said, my magic has a connection with his magic. It's all sort of to do with the scar. I don't know how to explain it, I just know that if I link up my magic with yours through the Mark, I can pull his magic away from yours."

"Ok."

"Ok?" Harry was surprised by Draco's sudden agreement.

Draco was already undoing his shirt cuff and rolling up his sleeve. "Let's do this."

"Oh, okay, great." Harry took Draco's offered forearm gently in his own hands. The Mark was like Severus', dull and lifeless since the Dark Lord's demise, but the lines seemed clearer than on Snape's, like it was fresher. Just seeing it made the sensation of the Mark that much stronger to Harry. He reached his own magic out of himself, tentatively directing it towards the Death Eater symbol.

His magic connected but the connection was immediately broken when Draco jumped back in shock.

"What the hell was that?"

"Sorry, I should have warned you. I was reaching out with my magic." Harry explained. "I didn't realise it would shock you like that."

Draco shook his head. "It's fine. It wasn't…bad. I just wasn't expecting it."

"Can I go again?" Harry asked considerately. "I can definitely get my magic to connect with Riddle's residual magic. I just want to get a sense of how 'moveable' it might be."

"Okay, I'm ready." Draco agreed again, stepping towards him once more.

Harry nodded and reached his own hand out towards Draco's arm, though he held it about a foot away. He let his magic drift out of him again, consciously directing it towards the mark, finding that dark strand that emanated from him and attaching to it like magnetic forces.

Draco didn't move away this time; he felt when Potter's magic made contact with his but held himself still. He kept his eyes on Harry's intent expression, awash with the bizarre sensation of having another's magic interact with his own. He couldn't say what Potter was doing; though the Gryffindor never took his eyes away from Draco's arm, there was no other sign that he was actively doing anything.

Eventually, Harry's hand dropped and his eyes came back up to meet Draco's.

"Well?" The Slytherin prompted when Harry didn't say anything.

"I can do it, I'm sure." He answered confidently, eyes shining with his optimism. "The Dark Mark is all entangled with your magic, but it isn't connected so there's no reason why it should be impossible to remove. The magic is dormant, there's no energy feeding it since Voldemort died, that's why the mark is faded and lifeless." Harry explained. "It craves that energy again. That's how I can coax it out of you. It can sense the connection my magic had with Voldemort's."

"Bloody hell." It was all Draco could find to say.

"Yeah." Harry agreed. "Now I just need to convince Severus to let me try it."

"Well, he'll know you can do it if you've already done it before." Draco said pointedly.

Harry scoffed. "I suppose that's true. You'd really let me try on you first?"

"Yeah, let's do this." Draco held his arm out again.

Harry paused, suddenly a lot less sure. "What, now?"

"You said you could do it."

"Well, yeah, but I wasn't going to do it tonight. I should probably do some more research or something."

"How are you going to find a way to research this beyond what you have already done?"

Harry sighed. "I know, but still…"

"Potter, you've just told me that the Dark Lord's magic is inside me. I want it out. I realise it's risky, but if there is the chance for me to wake up tomorrow morning without the constant reminder of the worst decision I ever made etched into my skin, then that's a risk I'm more than willing to take."

"Um, ok. Are you sure you want to do this now?"

"Do you really think you'll have any more information on how to do this next week than you've got now?"

"No." Harry agreed. "You're right. Snape will kill us for trying this, you realise?"

Draco shrugged. "If you inadvertently kill me then I won't be around to hear him yell and if you're successful then he should get over it when you get rid of his mark for him."

"Let's hope we're successful then." Harry quipped. "You ready?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Just get on with it, Potter."

"Right…" Harry took Draco's arm in his own hands, one underneath supporting its weight and holding the arm steady, the other barely resting above the mark.

Once more Harry sent out his magic. He found the dark tendrils of Riddle's leftover magic and they swiftly latched on to his own. As the magic connected, Harry shut his eyes and felt rather than saw the three different waves of energy interacting. He followed the thread of Voldemort's magic, through the tangled weave of Draco's own elegant strands.

Harry could see how the dark magic had buried itself within Draco, lying dormant but omnipresent. It was clear how easy it was for Voldemort to control and punish his followers once they were so tethered to him.

Steeling himself, Harry found the deepest point of the Dark Lord's infection and wrapped his own magic around it. The effect was instantaneous and powerful. The black magic buzzed to life, feeding off of Harry's power. The magic writhed but was contained by Harry's own. He pulled on the dark tendril which seemed willing to leave Draco's body, but Harry could feel it eagerly searching for a new host, longing to be a part of the power Harry's magic offered.

This was what Snape had feared; that releasing the Dark Mark would cause it to find its new home in Harry. He was prepared for this, however. Riddle had tried to possess Harry before, and he knew exactly how to shield himself from the darkness.

He pulled up the memories he would use to fuel his patronus, he recalled the moments of joy and love as he did when Voldemort possessed him in the Ministry Atrium. Now he had more, however. He had a greater sense of belonging. He still had Ron and Hermione, but he also had Ginny. Harry had experienced many more occasions at the Burrow, where he was always treated as one of the family. And then there was Severus. Harry didn't know if he could put a name of their relationship, but it was certainly strong.

Voldemort fed on the vulnerable and the lonely and Harry was neither. His cloak of friendship and family would protect his own soul from the residual darkness that had still polluted Draco.

Sensing the threat, the dark magic resisted, suddenly gripping tightly onto both Draco and Harry. In response, Harry fought harder, pushing as much power as he could into his magic. Waves like a roaring ocean left him.

Harry felt the sudden release of Draco's magic as the threads of the Dark Mark abandoned him. All at once the darkness was instead rushing over Harry, into him. He felt the sickness of the magic within him and expelled it with everything he had into nothingness.

Suddenly the magic was gone, and so was the room as Harry collapsed into darkness.