Hi!

Yes, it's been….forever, I know. I had actually forgotten where I was with this story, that's how long it's been. But now it's summer break. It's funny: all the years past, I always had something to keep me occupied over the summer months before school resumed, but now that high school's over for me, I see that I have nothing to keep me occupied. My efforts to find a job have resulted in a huge disappointment, and I'm left worrying about where I'm going to come up with a few hundred dollars for my first college bill. However, one can't spend all their free time stressed out over financial issues, so I decided it was time to pick up my story before it was completely forgotten.

I do have a few reviews to answer to:

hpfever: Yea, I'm not too good with slash stories (can ya tell? We seem to be lacking detail and action here! lol), but I always wanted Sev and Harry to get to know each other better. Sev is one of Harry's only links to the family that was lost in the last war, and it's Sev that pushes Harry to do his best with his harshness. Harry doesn't see this, of course, and I'm not sure if J.K. Rowling's portrayal of Sev even knows he's doing this. Sev has a dark past, and I think he's trying to keep Harry from falling in his footsteps. But thank you for sticking with the story, despite the OOC pairing.

barbarataku: You will soon see that I'm not too fond of Albus, tho I do like him somewhat. He may be too old, but he is the one guarding Hogwarts from Voldemort and his followers. It's said that Dumbledore is the only one Voldemort fears, the only one who can openly defy Voldemort without instantly dying, etc. So I'm playing on that. I have started to think Albus is a very manipulative individual with the tasks he places on his charges. With Sev's father coming into the picture, it's clear that Albus has overlooked Sev's childhood. I won't get rid of the DADA class because Voldemort is back and the students need the training. Arsenius may be the bastard he is, but he does know what he's doing, and he was the only one available for the position.

Dear God: Ya know, when I saw that, I laughed. Not about the religious implication, but the thought that God would take time out of his busy schedule to leave a review for me.

You are the second person to mention the anti-British tone I've used in this story. I so wish I'd been raised in the UK instead of this country. Since Bush has been in office, I've found I'm less fond of America with each passing day. Unfortunately, my efforts to keep myself from Americanizing Harry Potter have, well, you all see that it's just not quite working. If anyone would like to volunteer themselves to be a British beta for me, by all means, feel free to let me know. My e-mail's Drop me a line.

On to the story.

Severus was sitting behind his desk, grading essays that he'd assigned the third years for homework, when he heard a knock at his door.

"Enter," he said, half paying attention. He heard the door open and close, but nothing else.

"You don't have to just stand there, like a useless tree," he snapped. He was tired, and wanted desperately to go to his rooms and attempt to sleep.

"I know, Severus."

Severus started, surprised at having heard the visitor's voice so close to him, and then froze, once he realized who it was.

"I never imagined I would live to see this day." Arsenius said, looking around the classroom. "Things have changed in the last fifteen or so years, haven't they?"

"They have," Severus replied, striving to keep his voice neutral.

"One would think, that in the seven weeks that have passed since I arrived here this term, I might have found time to stop by and see how you were doing. I seem to have forgotten how teaching takes up one's time."

"Yes, it does, doesn't it?" Severus sighed. He was still tense, waiting for Arsenius to leave the room. He wasn't tired anymore; instead he was nervous, but there was no way he was going to let that show through his usual mask of indifference. "How goes it so far?" He asked, putting his quill down and leaning back in his chair.

Arsenius settled himself at one of the tables. "Smoothly, for the most part. But those Gryffindors think they can say and do whatever they bloody well please and not have to deal with the consequences."

Severus smirked. "They always have, and they only get worse with every year that passes."

"I was referring to the older ones," Arsenius said, looking straight at his son.

Severus' stomach did a back flip. 'Think fast, Severus!' his mind screamed. Keeping his face expressionless, he spoke.

"The older ones are used to having a different teacher for DADA each year," he began. "I'm not surprised that they're putting you through their usual routine of disrespect. They've been that way ever since Lupin was teaching."

"Perhaps, but Lupin at least knew what he was teaching, did he not?" Arsenius was studying Severus very closely.

"Yes, he did," Severus replied, picking up a stack of papers and sliding them into a folder. "However, it is late, and as much as I would be thrilled to continue this conversation with you about insolent Gryffindor students, I have had little to no sleep the last few days. I need to put an end to this day before I fall over."

Arsenius nodded. "Very well," he said, standing. "I will be seeing you soon, Severus. Good night."

"Good night," Severus responded, clearing his desk off so he could leave it for the night.

Arsenius walked swiftly out, closing the door with a snap. Severus let out a sigh, relaxing his now sore muscles.

"I really need to get some sleep," he said to himself.

"Professor?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"From which side do your powers come from?"

Severus looked up from yet another towering pile of essays.

"Why do you ask?"

Harry shrugged. "Just curious."

Severus put his quill down and ran his hand through his hair. "Well, blimey, it's been ages since I read the papers regarding my ancestry. Almost twenty years, in fact," he said.

"Can you try to remember?" Harry teased. "I mean, you're not that old, are you?"

Severus smiled. "No, not yet." He thought for a few moments. It had been a very long time since he'd seen those papers, but he recalled it as though he'd just lived the experience.

"To have these powers in addition to being a wizard is not a very common thing, as you already know," Severus began. "However, you couldn't tell when you look at my family tree…" he trailed off in a sarcastic tone.

"Why?"

"Because those born with these powers are scattered all over the place," Severus replied. "The entire family is composed of purebloods, and although my end doesn't involve much intermarriage, some of my ancestors are related to the Snapes by both blood and marriage."

"I guess incest is the way to go in the Wizarding world," Harry said softly. Severus nodded.

"Unfortunately, you're right. And until a century or so ago, the majority of marriages were planned."

"Brilliant," Harry said.

"Back to your question, I get it from both of my parents," Severus continued. "My mother was extremely powerful and talented with hers, but my father prohibited her from using them. Little does he know, but he also has them."

"Why wouldn't he let your mother use her powers?"

"My father was a big supporter of the Dark Lord, and very much into Dark Magic. He could never understand where she got them from and how they worked, so he saw their use as an enemy to him."

Harry shook his head. He knew that everything depended on how one used their powers, whether for good or evil, but there were still people too narrow-minded to understand that.

"Your father had them as well, and if I am not mistaken, somewhere in your mother's line, someone also had them," Severus said, taking a sip of coffee.

"How do you know all of this?" Harry asked.

Severus shrugged. "The library has everything, right down to personal records that self-update, Harry."

Harry shook his head again, this time in disbelief. Every day, he learned something different. This day was no different from the rest.

The night of the Halloween Feast was as dark and eerie a night as any before. Outside, the rain poured in sheets that swept across the grounds with every fierce blow of the wind, lightning illuminated everything in sight and the thunder rumbled through the castle right down to the deepest end of the dungeons. It was a perfect night for the day, lifting spirits and enhancing the mood of all inside Hogwarts.

The students ate until they could eat no more, and all were entertained by the school ghosts, party items were exchanged and jokes were told. There was a smile on everyone's face, and every eye was lit up by the candles that floated above them.

When they were dismissed, it seemed as though the entire school was trying to exit the Great Hall at once. There was a lot of pushing and shoving and bumping into one another. Somehow, Harry found a way to squeeze through the doors, but he literally had to plow through someone in order to do it.

"A simple 'Excuse me' would have worked just fine, Mr. Potter," said a voice from behind him. Harry whirled around to face Arsenius.

"Then again, seeing as though you seem to have inherited your father's arrogance and disregard for rules," Arsenius continued, a nasty smirk playing around his lips, "I could hardly expect you to be any more courteous than he was."

"How judgmental of you to assume that just because I look like my father that I must behave exactly as he did," Harry replied coolly. Arsenius raised his eyebrows. Harry noticed that the other students had gone and the hall was empty save for them.

"I never mentioned similarity in appearance, Potter, therefore it is you that assumes and not I."

"Either way, I regret to inform you that aside from looking like him, I am NOT my father," Harry said, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Be that as it may, Potter, you still need an attitude adjustment and correction in your behaviour," Arsenius sneered.

Harry shook his head. "Whatever," he said, and turned to leave.

"Detention, Mr. Potter."

Harry spun around again. "For what?" He demanded angrily. "I haven't even done anything an—"

SMACK!

Arsenius' hand connected with the side of Harry's head so hard it sent him across the floor, stopping just short of the staircase.

"I have told you time and again that I will not tolerate your back talking!" Arsenius hissed over him. "That'll be a week's worth of detentions and fifty points from Gryffindor! Now get out of my sight or I'll take more points!"

Harry scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could and tore up the stairs, stopping only when he reached the fifth floor corridor, when he slid down the wall and tried as hard as he could to stop himself from shaking.

Things went on the same as it always was for Severus, and as the days became shorter and colder, so did his patience. He hardly ever slept, and his mountain of paperwork seemed to be growing rather than shrinking. The only class he didn't have to scream at was his seventh year NEWT class, and for that he was grateful.

He had noticed that Harry had stopped visiting him after classes and was keeping to himself more and more with each passing day. As he could see nothing else that seemed unusual about the boy, Severus figured that Harry was finally starting to take his schoolwork seriously.

The bell rang, echoing from deep within the castle walls. There was a sharp breeze in the dungeons, enough to make even Severus shiver and draw his cloak closer around himself. Glancing up at the clock, he saw that it was nearly time for dinner. He looked back down at the pile on his desk, debating whether to continue working on it or to take a break and eat. His stomach's painful growl made him decide on the latter, and he strode out of his office.

As usual, the majority of the school was eating in the Great Hall, so it was relatively full of people chattering about one thing or another. However, as Severus began to fill his plate, he couldn't help but feel as though there was something out of place about his surroundings. Looking around, he could see nothing that wasn't supposed to be there. All the persons present were supposed to be there, and there weren't any suspicious faces among the House tables. Severus shook his head and put his thoughts aside. 'You're paranoid, Severus,' he thought to himself.

When he finished, his plate cleared itself. He gave the Hall one final glance as he left it, still feeling that something wasn't quite right. He was halfway down the stairs to the dungeons when it hit him.

Harry hadn't been at dinner.

Severus had seen Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley sitting together at the Gryffindor table, but Harry wasn't with them. Frowning, Severus thought that to be very odd, as Harry was hardly ever without the company of at least one of the two. But perhaps the boy simply hadn't been hungry. Yes, that had to be it. Excuses formed in Severus' mind as he continued down the hall to his office, but they didn't make sense to him. He remembered what Voldemort had ordered him to do last March. The mere possibility that Severus could kill Harry sent shivers through him. At his best, Harry could severely injure him, and Severus wouldn't put it past the boy to kill him if he wanted to. But if Harry sunk into himself again and became what he had been the year before, well, Severus didn't want to think about that.

As he sat down and dragged the fifth year's essays towards him, he shrugged his worries off and concentrated on his grading.

Harry sat on his bed, books lying open on all sides of him. He ignored his stomach's growling as he forced all of his concentration on his Transfiguration essay. He didn't want to think about food or of being around so many of his classmates at one time. He also didn't want to face Hermione's questions and Ron's cautious prodding about his well-being. Harry knew they meant well, but he just wanted to be left alone. He was very grateful that his teachers had given them so much homework. It gave him the excuse to be by himself and not expected to do anything with anyone.

Ever since that day when Arsenius had smacked Harry clear across the head, Harry had been spending less time with his mates and more time on his studies. Hermione was quite happy with Harry's change and Harry suspected she was trying to persuade Ron to do the same. But Harry knew there was a difference between being a dutiful student and just plain avoiding the world. As he expected, no one had really noticed this difference, which suited him just fine.

He recalled the week's worth of detentions he'd undergone with the elder Snape. It had been an excruciatingly painful and long week.

"This'll teach you to watch your tone with me," Arsenius had said to Harry the first night. Harry didn't think anything could be worse than Umbridge's etching quill, but he'd been sadly mistaken. Arsenius had made Harry take notes from the class textbook for seven straight hours that night. At first, Harry thought the task was rather simple for a detention, until he'd gotten over half an hour into it.

"I said neatly, not in this disgusting, illegible scrawl!" Arsenius exploded over him. Arsenius snatched Harry's parchment and tossed it into the fire. "Start over!"

This time, Harry hadn't even made it onto the second page when the parchment was whisked from under him and he was soundly slapped in the face.

"Are you as dim-witted as you look, Potter?" Arsenius raged, spit flying from his mouth. Harry sat as far back in his chair as he could, but Arsenius' face was still inches from his own. Harry opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut off.

"Shut up and start over!"

Harry did his best to keep his writing flawless, but after a few hours, his hand was beginning to cramp up. He ignored the pain and continued. He was so concentrated on his task that he didn't hear Arsenius approach him for the fourth time that night.

"You still don't get it, do you?" Arsenius said quietly, causing Harry to start and leave a blot of ink on his parchment. Arsenius threw the parchment into the fire along with the one from before and towered over Harry.

"What do I have to do to get you to do what I tell you to?" He asked. "Are you that stupid that you can't do a simple assignment as copying out of a mere textbook?"

"No—" Harry started to say, but he never got the chance to finish. A second later, he found himself on the floor, his head reeling in pain, and Arsenius was yanking him to his feet.

"I didn't tell you to talk!" Arsenius roared at him. "Keep your filthy mouth shut unless you're told to open it! Do you understand?"

Harry nodded, holding his breath in fear. He saw the anger flit across the older man's face before his head collided with the cabinet next to him.

"Get out of my sight, insolent brat!" Arsenius shouted in his face. Stumbling, Harry found his way to the door and left.

And that was how it went for the rest of the week. Harry would go about his assignment, whatever it was, until Arsenius found something he didn't like about it and hit Harry for it. By the time his last detention was over, Harry couldn't stand to be anywhere near his classmates or any of the staff without freezing up. He had to force himself to attend his classes and sat alone, away from the other students. Whenever he was questioned, he just snapped and told them to leave him alone, that he was fine.

He hadn't seen Severus in weeks either. He knew Severus would start to worry after a while, but Harry figured his professor had enough homework assignments to keep him out of Harry's hair for some time. He didn't use the orb simply because he wanted to be left to himself.

'I'm not a little kid to be pampered and babied,' he thought to himself, 'I can take perfectly good enough care of myself.'

He'd just rolled up his completed essay and put his books away when he heard the footsteps of the other boys on the stairs. Quickly he closed his bedcurtains and rolled into bed, whispering "Nox" as he put his glasses on the stand next to him.

Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk, deep in thought. Once again, his mind was going over the same things that had been bothering him since the Start of Term Feast. He couldn't get the look on Severus' face out of his head, no matter what Albus did.

"Don't let that twinkle fade, Albus, but don't let it cloud your judgment either." Severus' words at the end of last year rose to the surface of Albus' thoughts.

Albus had forgotten about what Arsenius had been like when Severus was a child. Albus didn't know how he could have forgotten something so big, yet he had been under so much tension with Voldemort moving about that Albus barely had time to think about himself. No one else had offered to take the position save for Arsenius, and he only days before term began.

Severus hadn't spoken to Albus since then, and the older man knew the Potions Master hadn't been Summoned to Voldemort's side for anything in that time. He also knew that the Dark Lord would only interrupt Severus if it was deemed necessary to while school was in session. Yet the younger man was keeping to himself more and more, coming up to eat every so often, Albus knew, just to assure the Headmaster that he was alive and well before retreating to the dungeons once more.

Severus was alive, most assuredly, but he was certainly not well. The shadows had grown beneath his eyes and the lines in his face were sharper. He'd lost weight and color in his skin since September. The students had noticed that their professor was snappier and more prone to losing his temper. When Arsenius was in the room, Albus could see the tension in every move Severus made. Before anyone could blink, Severus would be gone without any evidence suggesting he'd been there.

The same could also be said for Harry. Albus knew Severus was concerned for the boy. Albus hadn't seen Harry smile in several months. When he'd heard what had happened at the Dursleys, he'd shut himself in his office and cried for hours. Albus had never found a way to talk to Harry about what had happened. Whenever he made eye contact with the boy, the look in Harry's eyes would keep his mouth sealed. It was clear that Harry was not happy with the older man and wanted nothing to do with him.

Not knowing what to do, Albus did what he'd always done before. He put his thoughts aside and did what he could to keep everyone safe from Voldemort's throes. He knew he wasn't making anyone happy with his plans, but he'd rather have them angry with him then have them dead.

Yet whenever he saw Harry these last few weeks, Albus could almost feel the unhappiness that gripped Harry so tightly. Harry didn't eat as much and was overly aware of his surroundings. The slightest thing caused him to start and he spent more time out of sight. In the last week, Albus had seen Harry on the way to class, alone, and the boy had stopped coming to meals. The few times Albus had seen him in the hall, he noticed Harry was thinner and paler, but aside from that, the only other change was in his grades. He was getting straight O's across the line, and seemed to be drinking in everything that he could get his hands or ears on.

'How remarkably like Severus when he was a student,' Albus thought, nudging one of his spheres so that it spun on its dais. Severus had always thrown himself into his studies when—'Wait a minute,' Albus stopped himself and sat up. Severus got straight O's every year, occasionally an A, but he put every ounce of his will into his work when things went too far between him and his father. And Harry was very much like Severus in just about everything he did.

'Something's wrong,' Albus thought, his brow creasing. 'He's too much like Severus.'

Whatever it was that was affecting Harry was also bothering Severus, Albus knew. And Harry, like Severus often was, was teetering on the brink of suicide. It was just a matter of how long it would take for someone or something to hand Harry the pistol.

And Albus had every intention of keeping both his boys alive, no matter what the cost.

Next chapter: What happens when Severus finds out what's happening to Harry? And exactly what does Albus have up his sleeve?

Even I don't know, yet. Hehe. But since I've nothing else better to do while waiting for employers to call me and tell me I've been hired, I have time to write, or type I should say. TTFN!