A Shadowed Life

by Lelu Kitakaze

Harry reflects on past events in his life. A new revelation and chaos ensues, as Harry's world is turned inside out and upside down he is forced to go on the run. Where will he go, who will he turn too, and how will he proceed? Rated M (or MA), Light Harry turns Dark, HPxV/TR, "Not copy to another site" MORE WARNINGS INSIDE READ! Remember not everyone Reacts the same way.

23. The Crack

Hello lovely Readers,

Here is the next installment of A Shadowed Life! :3 I hope you all enjoy it, and I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

Phantom Trainer: XD lol yeah I think a lot of people are waiting for that realization. Hopefully I can make that point of the story highly amusing when it gets to that point.

Beta San: Yeah, I'm sorry, but hey, :3 three chapters this month are done. Usually it takes me a month to do just one… er unless you count the beginning of the story when I first started it then I was practically doing a chapter a week. Sometimes even one day after another when I couldn't sleep x.x but anyway… :3I'm glad you're enjoying the story.

Aneaelyssa: Mmm kinda sorta… Hopefully you can get the answer in this chapter since Harry had an epiphany while trying to figure out the message for the second task. XD Also yep Dumbledore's plotting is stupid, but I hope to make him more serious in one of the chapters to come.

Evenstarllily: I think you meant Ryu not Ryo, but kinda… Ryu is another word for dragon. So basically he was calling him what he already was in another tongue, which was simple to pronounce and remember. As for Vincent, I don't know… still debating about that little point in the story. Not that he could do much considering Harry's collar bound him as soon as Harry revealed himself to the small group. He will be hard to change his mind about Muggleborns, but Harry will hope to change his thoughts eventually on the subject.

Otoya: O3o yeah, didn't want Ginny to close… her clingy behavior would complicate a lot of things. Hermione who loves authority figures will be hard to work with when he beliefs and Harry's clash every now and again, but her loyalty to him should outweigh them greatly… maybe XD. Any who… Dumbles will get his just desserts eventually… not sure when, but he will. :3

To everyone else who commented on the last chapter thank you :3 and here is your next chapter you asked for. Hope you all love it. Mostly thinking in this chapter and touching some important points. No action, but anyways onto write my next chapter wheeeeeee!

Enjoy!

Things in the story you might want to know.

"Talking/ spells"

'Thinking/ sound affects/ Memories'

§ Music Song/ Magic Song §

-Parseltongue-

.:Spells:.

~Dragon Telepathy~

*Dragon Language*

---

Chapter Twenty-Three- The Crack

Harry was annoyed now… he thought he had enough attention when he was The-Boy-Who-Lived. Now he had that same attention and more with twice the amount of trouble. Not only had the issues still dealing with Skeeter's articles been a bother still, but now with his Dragon talk he found himself at the attention of another reporter who had worked under Rita Skeeter when she'd been alive. The worst of it all were the whispers from a lot of the student body. Many, especially from Gryffindor house, started to call him the same thing the Dursleys' had called him. Ron had even adopted the same word he'd used in that ally 'demon'. Harry sighed as he walked the halls silently, he was allowed to miss classes because of the tournament. It was the only plus side to doing it.

Ever since the incident in the cup room with Ron though, he'd taken to confronting him with Seamas and Dean at his side. They'd been the recent Gryffindors as of late to take up to Ron's words and believe them. They made it a point to corner him almost on a daily basis now. Harry hated to admit it, but he had to let it happen. Ron was one thing, but Dean and Seamas were another. All three boys were physically strong for humans. Other than that Seamas and Dean were also better at magic then Ron was.

Harry sighed as he remembered not only a day after the first task they had set upon him like vultures to a rotting corpse. They had cornered him in a hallway full of people and had called him many things that he noted other students agreed with. If their nodding heads were anything to go by and because of Harry's Evan persona he knew he had to take the abuse even if Ron was amongst them.

He had only ever attacked Ron, mostly because the boy attacked him first. However, it was not the same when two others were involved. They'd stuck to name calling and belittling, but it never turned, physically violent. It was only a matter of time though, and Harry knew that eventually the red head would slip up and throw a punch. He knew he was trying to be smart about his attacks, but if there was one thing Harry knew, it was that Ron always messed up and to be honest he didn't care if Seamas and Dean are there to see it happen.

Once again Harry found himself in the company of Draco and Blaise when he was able to attend classes with them. They walked with him usually to keep Ron's group away. Sometimes Pansy or Theo would be with him as well depending on the day and classes he attended. His time alone however, was spent trying to figure out the golden egg that he'd gotten from the first task. Harry and his dorm mates had been more than a little disgruntled when he'd opened it only to hear screeching coming from it. Harry had been researching many methods to figure it out and he was starting to wonder if maybe it wasn't a complicated thing, but rather something very simple. It wouldn't surprise him if that was the case. He sighed slightly wondering if he could catch Fleur or Krum during the week or something. He was sure Krum wouldn't be susceptible to, .:Ligilimens:., but Fleur might be. Veela were considered neutral and often categorized as light creatures. It would be unlikely she would know of the mind arts considering, it was on the darker end of magic.

He could also talk with Cedric, but the older Hufflepuff had kept away from him since the incident with the first task. Sure the other male had been ecstatic about the fact that he could speak the dragons tongue. Though, over the course of time it seemed the schools collective thoughts about him seemed to make the male less inclined to speak with him. Cedric wouldn't be easy to get a hold of, but he was the least likely to know anything about the mind arts and could easily be delved into if need be.

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose, 'Once more I have an issue with my dragon side.'

He had been pondering over the first task and what the Fireball had said and the reflected back on what his dragon had told him. His heart was the issue, but what was wrong with his heart? Was I the internal chaos that always seemed to float around within him? Or was it something he wasn't seeing? Harry was in his thoughts when he paused, it had started to happen as soon as he'd gone into the past… after his first assign meant under Briar Rose for the Dark Lord. Something significant had happened that he hadn't noticed that could have caused it.

Harry groaned his teeth together, 'If only I could just figure it out.'

"Hey, Evan!"

Harry jerked his head up and looked over at the Weasley twins as they approached him. He turned to them and paused as they stopped to catch their breaths obviously having run there to get to him. He waited patiently with a brow raised, wondering what had them both so worked up.

"We wanted to want you-"

"-That Ronny-kins is up to no good-"

"-again and we think he might-"

"-do something stupid," The chorused.

Harry sighed, "When does he never do something stupid… So what do you think it is?"

"We think-"

"-He's going to try and-"

"-corner you before the next task-"

"-With Seamas and Dean-"

"-Sounded like a right nasty bit," They chorused again.

"They're planning to fight me?" The two redheads nodded with worried looks on their faces.

Harry sighed and leaned against the wall his hand smoothing over his face as he thought to himself. Three on one was technically a far fight, but Harry knew he couldn't fight all three it was raise to many questions. If it came down to it he would have to take whatever they threw at him and to be honest he wasn't at all happy about that thought. He hadn't taken a beating since he was at the Dursley's house. A magical beating was different from physical and if he knew Gryffindors they would use the muggle way of fighting over the wizards was of fighting. On top of that he would have to force his healing down once again to avoid suspicions.

"What do you-"

"-Plan to do?"

"I don't know… I can't have someone always there with me and they can honestly jump me at any time the want no thanks to this tournament. On top of that I'm worried about what the old fool is planning. He set up the first task to be harder than it should have been on purpose. I was just lucky for my ability… Which, I can't reveal to much of during this damn thing," Harry hissed softly.

The twins looked at each other before looking at Harry, "We can give you-"

"-Some of our joke items-"

"-So you can get out-"

"-of any sticky situations-"

"-you might find yourself in-"

"-during the times you are-"

"-roaming the halls of Hogwarts," They finished together.

Harry smirked, "That would be brilliant Gred, Forge… it would definitely help to minimize their chances of getting to me during all of this."

The two nodded and walked with Harry in deep discussion as they told him a list of possible jokes that could help him escape quickly. It was better than nothing and quite frankly he didn't want to have to take a beating when he'd been freed of that so long ago… or it seemed that way to him anyways.

{A Shadowed Life}

Harry was grateful for the twins joke items. It had gotten him out of a rough and tight spot once between classes one week. Though, because of all of this he found himself very irritated. Mostly because he hadn't had time to run into any of the other champions and the next task was only about a week away. He was starting to lose hope thinking he would never figure out the damn thing. Sighing and rested his head on the table he was sitting at in the library. He had stacks of books around him all of the scattered across the tables as he sat lost in thought.

He didn't even notice when Hermione and Luna approached him and sat down looking surprised with the amount of books around him. Madam Pince had been lingering about close to where he was, hoping the books he had wouldn't get damaged. It seemed to calm her that he seemed to treat the books with a delicate touch even if they seemed haphazardly thrown on the table when they weren't.

"Evan?"

Harry looked up and over at Hermione, "Yeah 'M'ione?"

"What's with all the books?"

Harry sighed, "I haven't been able to find anything to help me to solve the golden egg."

Hermione's eyes went wide, "I thought you would have figured it out by now."

Harry leaned back in his seat. He was tired and she could tell it on his features, "I've been busy with other things… Getting away from the Ronald Gang is starting to wear thin on my nerves…"

"Evan… listen to it under water…"

Harry blinked, "Huh?"

Hermione blushed, "I have been hanging out with Viktor Krum a lot and I was curious so… I asked him a few questions…"

Dawning realization flitted across his features and a grin split his features, "Hermione you are a damn life saver."

She blushed, "Glad I could be of some help."

Harry gently gathered the books he had and put them away as quickly as possible, "I'll talk to you later at dinner."

Harry was ecstatic that he finally got that lucky break he was looking for. He was mentally thanking Viktor Krum for speaking with Hermione about the tournament stuff. He went in search for the egg and then looked for Snape to get into the Prefects bathroom. Snape had allowed it without even a fuss. It was odd the man hadn't said even a biting word since the day he'd found out Harry had joined the Dark Lord. Shrugging it off he went into the Prefects bathroom and started to fill the bathing tub. Bubbles floated across the surface of the water and he stripped himself of his clothes before allowing himself to slip into the lukewarm water.

"Well," He pulled the egg into his lap, "Time to see what this thing is really saying." Harry ducked up under the water and opened the egg. A melodious sound of a women's voice filtered out of the golden egg, filling the underwater area with its song.

§ Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground,

And while you're searching ponder this,

We've taken what you'll sorely miss,

An hour long you have to look.

And recover what we took,

But past an hour, the prospect's black,

Too late, it's gone, it won't come, back. §

Harry sat under the water a bit longer in thought before closing the egg and surfacing. He leaned back against the edge of the tub. Harry's mind went racing along, as he tried to decipher the meaning to the song and to its literal meaning. What bothered him the most was the songs ending. He stared sightlessly up at the ceiling as he allowed his mind to think without anything else in his mind as he mouthed the words slowly.

"Come here us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground…" He thought for a moment, "So a body of water… the Black Lake? It's likely… and the creature singing… it's has to be mermaids considering they are one of few races unable to voice words above water, without it coming out in sounds of screeching… like nails on a chalk board screech. Also it's plane in the song at the end that I only have an hour and anything past that means I failed."

He rubbed his face as he quickly thought up strategies that would involve being under water for a long period of time. On top of that spells that could be used effectively against Grindylows and many other deep water creatures… possibly even the Mermaids if they posed any sort of threat to him. He really had to look back on the spells Tom taught him and the ones he'd learned over the years. He ran his fingers over his face. He remembered each and every spell he'd learn from both Tom's past and his own timeline. The only issue was being wisely careful about what spells he used. He didn't want to give away that he was Orion Black or Briar Rose.

Too many people from Tom's past still existed, Dumbledore being one of the many still left. Anyone who'd known what Briar Rose had looked like and her battle style during the last war would be able to easily pin point her. Orion Black… well he might get away with using some of the spells he knew as Orion. He could put it off as being taught those spells by Orion Black. Sighing he continued to decipher the meaning to the song.

"And while you're searching ponder this, We've taken what you'll sorely miss… What would they take? The only items remotely important to me are the Marauders Map, Invisibility Cloak, and my Collar… Maybe they mean something else? But what else would be important to me that I would sorely miss?" He thought for a moment longer before his eyes went wide, "Do they mean a person? If so then who's all important to me? Let's see… Lucius, Narcissa, Draco, Luna, Gred, Forge, Neville, and T-"He paused in his voiced words before he blushed, a bright red color.

Was Tom important to him? He had saved him… but they really didn't spend much time together. In Tom's past they had just been ally and leader. They weren't over friendly to one another and didn't speak unless it was about a job. The Tom he was closer to now, was usually busy leaving him to himself and coming around when he wasn't too busy. Yet during those brief encounters Harry found himself strange feelings inside that he didn't quite understand.

It was now that he started to ponder over his thoughts. Tom had saved him, he had pulled him from the dark pit he'd been in. He'd saved him from his own despair and gave him a reason to live. He made him know, in not so many words, that Harry was not a monster or a freak. Tom was the only one he found understood him the best and could empathize with what he thought about himself. Tom, who had always been gentle to him since coming to his side of the war. Tom, who had did not blame him for anything he might have done and forgiven him without a hitch. Sure he might have had motives in the beginning, but even Harry wasn't blind to the effort the Dark Lord made every day to be kind to him.

It was during this that Harry came to a realization, "I… I love him."

He loved Tom for his faults. He loved him for his possessive yet protective behavior when Harry was involved in something Tom thought to be to intimate to him. He loved Tom's temper when he lost it and Harry was left to almost melt in the euphoric waves of his magic. He loved the way Tom looked at him, with the intense stare he often got when Tom was thinking about something. He loved the way the man seemed to dominate all who stood before him. He loved the gentle fingers, of the usually rough hands, as they caressed his face.

Harry's heart ached in his chest. He'd forgotten this feeling, the feeling that made his heart ache in pain when he cared so deeply about something. He'd closed himself off from such feelings to keep from hurting again. He'd severed all ties to the feelings that let him know that he really cared about someone.

It was at that point Harry started to realize he'd sealed off his heart from any sort of love and caring he had for anyone. It wasn't just his love the Dark Lord, but his love for his friends and family as well. When he'd been with them he'd only been showing kindness because he was just acting upon it. He hadn't truly really cared or showed he loved them and appreciated them. He'd been acting so long that he hadn't even realized that he faking these emotions and succeeding in keeping people from realizing it too. Harry decided then and there he would stop pushing his feelings away and hiding them.

Harry practically almost jumped out of his skin when a hissing chuckle seemed to fill into the otherwise quite quarters. His eyes went wide and he about laughed when he felt the warm coiling feeling of his dragon returning to its place in his mind. He face palmed and about started to roll into a laughing fit. His shoulders shaking as he tried to suppress his laughter.

"So this was the reason why? I was suppressing important emotions that a Dragon would usually never hide? In other words I should allow my emotions free reign as a dragon's would be? But that's not all is it… I needed to understand and accept the deep rooted feelings I had to Tom as well? As well as shattering my own fears… and step out of my comfort zone…"

He felt a pleased hiss and Harry chuckled softly. He more than accepted the bond he had towards Tom. His feelings towards the elder wizard made Harry happy though. He wouldn't try to suppress these feelings anymore. Dragons were prideful creatures and acted upon their emotions, but also stayed observant and intellectually open minded. They didn't try to hide their displeasure or what they liked and did not like. The let everything be known and fought with veracity, that often spoke volumes. On top of that when their mate was involved they hid nothing from them, they were open and accepting of everything and anything involving them.

Harry blinked, "The bond? Is Tom… is Tom my 'Life Mate'? Is… is he my 'Soul Mate'? He heard the same pleased hiss to let him know he'd gotten it.

Harry shivered as the defenses he'd place around his heart cracked and splintered. It felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted and Harry didn't feel the suffocating anxiety he'd been constantly feeling since the battle with his father. Then again it might have been longer for all he knew. He fell back on things that made him comfortable. He'd rejected the part of him that made him who he was, but now he wouldn't allow that. No more running and hiding, no more leaving things unsaid or unfelt… it was time to move on and make his life worth living once more.

"Wait… sorely miss… They wouldn't really take Tom would they?" Harry puzzled over this as his mind wandered, trying to get back on the task at hand.

{A Shadowed Life}

Snape was no fool he had prided himself in being observant and able to read people without much of an effort. The Dark Lord and Dumbledore were the only exceptions for this however. However, he had not expected it for Harry Potter. He reflected back of past observations of the boy when he'd first, came to Hogwarts. When he'd first seen the boy he had utterly hated the fact that he'd looked so much like his father. The only thing he had in common with his mother was his eyes and it ended there… or so he thought.

The first year he had noticed the boy was rather small and only put it off to the thought that the boy was a slow grower. He didn't give it anymore thought then he'd first started when seeing the boy. He was quiet and spoke out against people when he found something that went against his own morals and judgments. At the time when the boy smiled, he'd thought it had been done so naturally, as though he was always smiling. The one thing he'd noticed that was odd was the boy's unwavering ability to try and gain some kind of acceptance. That and a loyalty to people that they didn't at all deserve. He put so much trust in everyone else who, was of the light and never questioned anything.

His power in magic had been mediocre at best and he seemed to struggle a lot with things. On top of this the boy didn't seem to have that great of intelligence and followed the youngest Weasley male as though his opinion mattered more than his own. He would admit that he himself had bought into the whole tripe that the boy was raised to be spoiled and thus he'd treated him like a spoiled brat. It didn't help that there were some situations where he got the brunt of Harry's attitude that he related a little too much to James Potter… his long since dead bully.

Snape sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he sat at his desk before rising to leave his office to join the other Head of houses to see who the selected people would be for the next task. His thoughts wandered to other events in the past year, which had utterly surprised him, let alone baffled and befuddled.

Harry had joined the Dark Lord and on top of that he found out disturbing things. At the time he hadn't known Harry was with the Dark Lord. He had truly thought the boy had run away after the deaths of his muggle relatives. He hadn't thought otherwise quite sure the boy was crying somewhere and would eventually come back… but he hadn't.

Then Orion Black cropped up literally out of nowhere. He'd been surprised that there was another Black family member out there that no one seemed to know about. Dumbledore had taken a literal interest in the eighteen year old wizard and had assigned him to keeping tabs on the boy and finding out as much as he could about him. What surprised him more was that the Malfoy's knew him and were rather close, almost to the point that he was considered family. Neither Malfoy's had told him of the boy and he was shocked that they hadn't even thought of telling him. He'd learned quite a lot from Narcissa about the boy, but even he could tell there were some things she was still keeping from him. He didn't press her for it somehow sensing that he shouldn't even attempt to do so.

He'd watched him, his mannerisms and the way he reacted around men and woman alike. He was shocked when he'd noted the boy's aversion to being touched by anyone one who was male over the age of twenty. When he'd asked Narcissa about it he'd had it confirmed that the boy had been raped several times in his past. On top of that she had made him promise never to pry into it, however he knew he had to tell the headmaster, since it was his job too.

It was after the school term had finally started that a new person came into being. Evan Spring, another person having been added to the mix. Once again he was finding out about another person the Malfoy's knew and he himself had never met. Draco had been receiving letters in the mail, possibly from his mother and seemed to be excited. It was a shock once again when he found out that Evan Spring had been sexually abused as well. However, these small things started to not make any connecting dots in his head until the Dark Lord's return. The night when Snape's life changed and he'd been entirely unprepared for it.

Harry Potter was none other than Orion Black. The same male he found out had been raped in his past. After the night he'd found out he'd racked his brain for any evidence he had of such a claim from when he'd been at Hogwarts. He was stunned when he found even though he'd prided himself in being observant, that he'd neglected to pay proper attention to the boy under the grounds that he was too much like his father. What was worse was that he'd pushed the boy into speaking things he'd rather have left unspoken. He'd seen the helplessness in those green eyes and he'd watched them darken when another force took over inside him… a darker force. In the following days after the discovery he found he could not speak to anyone about where Harry was and who he was that already did not know. The collar around the boy's neck had bound him to secrecy.

He'd watched Harry closely after that day though, while he was as Orion Black anyways. He didn't usually see him as Harry Potter, mostly because he was never usually in that form when he was around. However, the night of Harry Potter's unveiling was also the night he'd noted that Harry had no longer bared the Potter features, but more of the Black family ones. He could only surmise that Sirius Black had something to do with that, considering whatever kind of creature Harry was had favored it more.

The only thing he'd started to wonder was how Harry had even became a creature. As far as he knew his father's family, were all wizards and his mother, up till recently, had been a muggleborn. Was it possible the gene was really old? If that was the case what had caused it to be active now? He was utterly confused to say the least.

It was on the day that Evan Spring was turned into a dragon and kidnapped that Snape found out that he was also Harry Potter. The boy had been under the noses of everyone at Hogwarts and no one even had a clue that he was there. On top of that he'd found out exactly what Harry was. He had dragon's blood running through his veins. The only thing was he could neither remember nor recall any families that had the blood of dragons within them. What's more he couldn't say anything about it to anyone. He assumed that since he found out and was already bound to the collar that this was to remain a part of that secret contract.

Snape walked into the room where the other Head of Houses were with Dumbledore and the representative from the Ministry. He folded his arms and waited as the Headmaster and the Ministry representative spoke softly amongst themselves as he thought to himself. His black eyes narrowing as he watched the Headmaster. His gaze unwavering as he let his thoughts roam over what he'd now known.

He remembered what he saw that day on Orion Black's back… Harry's back. Scars that were almost hidden by the tattoo he could only assume was how he hid his creature status. The bold letters on his upper back along his should blades area. The thick scars were old and looked as though they were occasionally recut into to make sure the word stayed. Amongst that scar were many others that littered his skin. Blades, burns, and who knew what else those muggles had done to him. Oh yes, those muggles… he knew who made them, but since they were long dead even he could not confront the matter.

He wouldn't even dare confront the Headmaster about it either. It was his fault in the first place that the boy was in their care. He was angry, mostly at himself. He watched Evan, Harry, since he saw him more often at Hogwarts. He didn't like what he saw there. Harry was changing he was no longer the care free young man he'd supposedly been. He didn't smile often anymore and when he did it usually had a dark feeling to it. The only true smiles he'd ever seen the boy express is when he was with his friends… the only people that he felt he could ever trust. Snape was feeling immensely guilty for not seeing the boy for who he was earlier, for not seeing he was hurting more then he let anyone ever know.

However, as time drew on his ability to read the young male grew less and less obvious to read. When, Briar Rose vanished though, he hadn't thought anything about it. Orion was still out and about and Narcissa had said that they were letting the people think Evan Spring was out of town. At the time Snape had thought nothing of it, but as the week went on he started to notice things as time went on. Orion didn't seem the same, and a couple days after Briar Rose left Orion went out of town on some kind of work related issues. He knew something was terribly wrong and when Briar Rose came back he found out through Bellatrix shortly afterwards, who she really was. He couldn't believe it to be honest he was shocked. It was after that, that he found it more difficult to read the boy and rare to see much of any emotion on him.

The boy really did have the worst luck ever. No matter what persona the boy became, each one went through some kind of hell. Though, when it boils down to it all these bad things were happening to one person… Harry Potter had officially taken on the Black family name, which happened to be his very first persona, Orion Black. The boy couldn't even get a break and it revolved all around one man, Dumbledore.

Snape was angry at the man, he'd promised the boy would be safe and had forced him to protect the boy. Snape didn't have to read anything or be told that he had failed in that department. He sighed softly when the Headmaster started to move towards the goblet. They started with Viktor's special person and he had to admit he was surprised when Hermione's name came out of the goblet. When Fleur's special person came out it was announced her sister, Gabrielle Delacour, was to be her task. Cedric's special person was Cho Chang and he waited to see what Evan's would be. When it came out Dumbledore visibly paled and McGonagall started to query about who it could be. The Representative was about ready to walk over and ask as well when Dumbledore announced the paper was blank.

Snape watched as the man looked at him with a meaningful look and he wondered just what the look was for. The old wizard said they would have Snape talk to the boy and have him decide who his special person was. They were all confused why the cup would give a blank parchment strip Dumbledore simply explained it as the possibility the boy had no one he had affections for or that he simply loved someone just as much as another person and the Goblet could pick. The others in the room simply agreed with it and asked no more about it. When they all left Dumbledore asked him to stay behind to discuss how to approach Evan about this.

Once alone Dumbledore sighed, "Severus…"

"What is it? Surely the explanation of the empty parchment is not correct."

Dumbledore handed Snape the parchment, "It did have a name… just not the one we thought it would be."

Snape kept his face blank as he took the strip of parchment and looked down at the offending strip. What he read there was not what he expected to see. The Dark Lord's name was on the parchment and Snape couldn't help but to show his emotions. He was quite literally gob smacked and this turn of events. Out of everyone the boy knew he'd had the most special attachment to the Dark Lord himself. This brought new questions to him that he somehow knew he would never be able to get.

"You see Severus… If I had told anyone this would cause panic… It was for the greater good that nothing was said. You must go to the boy, do not mention this to him and only ask him who he would like to have in place of the 'blank' parchment that we received," Dumbledore said to him.

"I'll talk to him about the person he would like to be his goal in the task," Snape almost sighed, "It will probably be Draco Malfoy, though considering that he's supposed to be his brother."

"I hope so Severus," The old wizard said to him.

Snape left the room with a sweep of his robes as they billowed out behind him as he left. His thoughts wandered as he stalked his way back to the direction of the Slytherin dorms. He hoped the boy would be there and if he wasn't then it was possible he would be in the library, where the boy seemed to be spending a lot of time as of late.

{A Shadowed Life}

Harry was exactly where Snape thought he would be. Sitting in the Library once again with a mountain of books scattered around him. It was probably one of few places that he found that Ron wouldn't dare confront him in. The Great Hall being the other place he was safest at, other than during his classes. He sighed and thumped his forehead against the table in front of him his mind going over the multiple ways he could swim in the water and be able to breath for an extended period of time. He had less than a day before the tournament's next task would take off and he'd been experimenting with the different types of magic dealing with such. He'd even come up with his own spell, but it didn't quite last an hour, but it would help him to swim pretty quickly.

He sensed someone standing over him as his thoughts halted for a moment and he looked up, "Hello Professor."

"We need to talk Mr. Spring," Snape drawled.

Harry's eyes widened and he nodded before gently gathering the books and putting them away before following, the professor silently. They passed quite a few people that threw them, looks of confusion, but otherwise didn't say anything. Harry had to admit he too was confused, but otherwise didn't outwardly show it. When they reached Snape's office the other male ushered him in and closed the door before turning to him.

"The second task is tomorrow and most of the champions have their task laid out before them."

"Most? You mean I don't?"

Snape seemed hesitant before pulling out the parchment piece that Dumbledore had not even asked back and showed it to the boy. Harry gave him a puzzled look before taking it and looking down at the strip of paper. What he found there made him choke a bit and his eyes went wide. He looked up at the professor, his face tinged red in shocked embarrassment.

"Who else?"

Snape didn't have to know more than that, he knew what the boy was asking, "Just Dumbledore… he didn't want to start a panic."

"Or so he says anyways," Harry sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "Let me guess he wants me to choose another to be my target for the next task… Tell him Draco, he is supposed to be my brother… I can't use Hermione because Krum would have her and to be honest I don't have many others I am close to that go to this school."

Snape nodded, "I figured as much, but it was better to ask first."

"This means I'll be watched closely more often… which means I will not be able to leave Hogwarts without notice to often," He ran a hand through his hair… It looks like I'll have to use my Time-turner more often, let alone my cloak and map as well… Things are already hard enough that I have to get out of here to do other tasks… let alone deal with Ron and his gang."

"I'm sure you can figure something out," Snape tried to say without sounding condescending, considering that the trying to compliment Harry rather than belittle.

Harry smirked, "Yeah, I guess… just hope my plan is enough."

Snape hummed but, otherwise said nothing. He let Harry leave and left him to his thoughts. Harry watched as the other wizard left probably to go inform the man of his choice. He wandered back to the Slytherin common room silently thinking to him-self. This made the next task easier, but his sneaking out to relive the day would become harder. He would have to be sure to watch his back when it came to sneaking out now.

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Next Chapter- Into The Deep

Well everyone that is it for this chapter. Looking forward to your R&R's. See you all soon!