Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from the Harry Potter books and/or movies is not mine.

A/N: There's some definite OC-ness in this story. Of course, Severus isn't as snide as he is as a professor - it should take some time before that part of his attitude is permanent. In my story, he's more of a boy who questions everyone and everything. He's still a bit like himself, yet at the same time, he's different. I also don't like writing in his point of view at all - I'm not used to it, and I think I might change back to Harry's point of view in the next chapter. Ugh. I can feel the flames coming. :D Oh well, I'm writing this for a friend - not for anyone else. Enjoy, anyways!

And thanks so much for those of you who reviewed.

Mirage Me This

By: xScenex

Chapter Two

Previously:

Before he could think or do anything further, a tall figure of a man came into view from the side door. He grimaced when he spotted Severus and Harry.

Severus froze. He knew that his father wouldn't take too well to strangers in his house. Especially if they associated with Severus himself. He felt his throat go dry and his face became defiant.

He wouldn't let his father kick Harry out before he could get help. He'd make sure to that.

Even if it caused him to face the wrath of his father - he was willing to do it; just for that one boy.

Severus stared at the man defiantly. He wouldn't let the man kick Harry out before he got some help. But surprisingly, his father's eyes swept past the other boy as if he weren't even there.

"What are you staring at boy? Get the fuck out of my sight," he ground out angrily, eyes blazing with hate. There was a definate drunkness in his voice.

Severus stared incredulously at the man. He wasn't mad that there was a complete stranger in his house? That would definitely be a first.

"Well, boy? Go on, get! Hug your imaginary girlfriend somewhere else," came the sneering response to his silence.

Imaginary Girlfriend? Severus sneered nastily at the man. He must have been completely wasted to think that Harry was a girl; imaginary at that!

Without any word, the Slytherin helped a very quiet Harry out of the kitchen and through the hallway to his room. The house was dark - even the windows hardly allowed much light into the dreary place. They were too caked with dirt and dust to allow such.

When he opened the door to his messy room, he avoided the eyes of the other boy. He didn't want the other to judge him by how his house looked. It's not like he wanted to live in a dump. But he kept his jaw firm, in case the other would smart off about how much of a dump the place was. To his surprise, though, the boy didn't say anything about it. Maybe he lived someplace like that himself?

Severus had never really known much about anyone else around his age, besides what he saw from the other Slytherin's at his school - and that wasn't much. They were all the same; quiet, sulky, and secretive. Even the first years usually stayed locked up in their single rooms, never allowing anyone else to come one foot into their quarters. Not that he blamed them - even he, himself, never let anyone in his dormitory.

He guided Harry to his messy, unmade bed and helped him sit down. Afterwards, he headed towards a cabinet near his dresser and pulled out a roll of bandages and a thick paste that would heal the wounds on the boy's back and arms. He didn't worry about it not working - he'd made the solution himself, and he knew it worked. It was one of the only things he prided himself over - his potions work.

While he walked back and ordered Harry to shed his shirt so that he could fix up the mess of the boy, neither said a word. Severus was glad, because he wasn't sure if he could say anything without messing up in his speech.

He was also glad that Harry couldn't see him from where he sat - otherwise, the noticeable blush that adorned his face would send him into complete embarrassment. He tried hard not to stare too long at his exposed body, but it was hard for him. He'd never been so close to someone of the same sex for so long, and it was slightly arousing to him. And it worried Severus slightly. Why was he feeling so many things towards a stranger that he'd just met?

Maybe it was because this other boy was willing to be around him.

After he tied the knot in the back to keep the bandages from falling off, he got up to make sure it was done right in the front. Still, Harry hadn't said anything, and he felt more worry fill his head. His worry quickly heightened when he looked at the others face and realized that something was indeed wrong.

"Are you all right?" he asked, once again unsure of himself. Did something offend him?

Harry just turned to face him, eyes wide with fear. His voice was shaky as he spoke, "No, I'm not all right."

Severus didn't comment. What could he say to him? At least he was being honest.

"What's your name?" the green eyed boy asked.

It seemed like such a random question that he didn't understand it at first. "What?"

"Your name - what is it?" he sounded desperate as he spoke. His eyes searched Severus' desperately as if looking for something.

The scrutiny made him uncomfortable and he had to fight off a deep blush that threatened to creep up on his face. But he held his gaze.

"Severus," he replied calmly. He wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing anymore.

"Severus… Severus Snape?" The boy almost yelled out, panic all over his face.

Suddenly, he felt his skin grow icy, even though the room itself was pretty stifling. How did this muggle know his full name? He wasn't even worried if anyone from downstairs could hear them now. "How do you know me?"

"Oh God, tell me this is a dream," the boy groaned, slumping over. "What the bloody hell is going on?"

"Sorry?" was all Severus could say. Was this boy insane?

"How?"

"How what?" Severus was getting annoyed now. Maybe the boy had been beaten up for a reason. Maybe he had deserved it.

But he quickly threw those thoughts away. Even if he was Slytherin - cold hearted, self-centered, and snide - he couldn't feel it in himself to think of this boy like that. There was just something about him that screamed 'unique'.

"You're not supposed to be… you're old." Harry accused, his voice strained.

"Old?" he scoffed, annoyed. Did he really look old?

"You're supposed to be.. What, thirty something? You should be older than my parents!"

Severus' eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not."

"You can't be more than my age," he heard Harry whispered.

Now he was getting confused. What was he on about?

"Sorry for me misunderstanding, but I'm not sure I understand what you're on about." He felt that he sounded stupid, but he wasn't about to talk normally to the boy. Besides, he'd always spoken in such a manner. It only seemed right. Plus, he was annoyed.

"I mean, you're supposed to be old! You're my professor!"

Severus nearly gagged. Him, a professor? Even he hadn't dreamt of being one - having to be around insolent children all the time, criticizing them for their horrible work and manners… He couldn't even picture it.

"You're messed up," Severus found himself accusing.

"I guess so," Harry said, eyes bugged and his voice hysterical. He was about to stand up and Severus took a few steps back. This kid could be dangerous - he already seemed to have stuff in his head.

Severus was about to say something, but someone's footsteps could be heard from the hall outside. He held his breath. Did his father hear them arguing and was coming upstairs to check and see what all the racket had been about?

He'd hoped that it wasn't, but his heart skipped a beat when the doorknob rattled and turned slowly. He would be in trouble.

"Severus, Honey?"

Silence filled the room as both Severus and a half standing Harry stared at the slowly opening door. Severus was just glad that it wasn't his father - instead, it was his mother.

A woman in her mid-thirties poked her head into the small room. Her eyes were tired and dull, and a large purple bruise was forming on the left side of her cheek. She smiled shakily at Severus. Said boy, turning to Harry, sent him a glance to keep quiet.

He wasn't even paying attention - instead, he noticed that his focus was on the woman.

"Severus, honey?"

"Yes, mum?" he asked stiffly, eyes still on Harry.

"I was wondering if you had any more of that bruise solution that I could borrow. Do you?"

He nodded slowly, and she sighed in relief. "I can't very well go to work like this," she muttered halfheartedly. Severus just nodded stiffly. He always avoided having to comfort her - he always felt awkward.

He'd always felt like blaming her for all his problems - but she was just too fragile in many ways to tell her to her face. Call it his Slytherin side, but he felt the need to hate her. Maybe it was like when a snake hatched and left its mother. He felt that she just provided more problems than she was worth. But even though he felt like she was worthless to him, she was still his mother and he felt the need to help her for a while.

His father was the same to him. Well, actually… almost anyone was.

He walked towards his dresser drawer and dug through the top, searching for the potion. It took him a few minutes to find it and when he did, he was surprised to turn around and find his mother sitting right next to Harry on the bed.

Harry himself looked rather startled by how close she sat, her arms nearly touching his. But the woman seemed completely oblivious to him, and smiled when she saw the tiny vial in Severus' hand.

"Thanks, sweetie," she said. She sounded exhausted. "You know, I wish your father could understand just how lovely it is to be what we are. We have so many cures to things that muggles don't, but he just doesn't understand. To him, we're monsters."

Severus grimaced. Leave it to her to rant when others are around.

"Mum," he tried to warn, gesturing to the spot beside her where a very shocked looking Harry still sat, although he had moved over quiet a bit so that they were no longer touching. If he didn't know any better, he'd think that the boy was a statue - or at least petrified.

"Hm?" she asked, unsure. She turned to stare beside her, but her eyes were unfocused and skipped over Harry. She looked up and down for a second before turning back. "What?"

His eyebrows rose slowly. Did she really not see him, right there next to her? He shook his head slowly.

"Don't you… see anything?"

She looked back then shook her head as well. "No honey, I don't. Am I supposed to?"

He shook his head.

"By the way," she said suddenly, standing up and brushing out the hem of her long, grey skirt. "Who were you talking to just a second ago?"

"Um."

"I thought I heard you talking, but when I came in here, I saw no one."

"I wasn't talking to anyone, mum. You must have just thought you heard someone." Severus didn't care that he was lying - he just wondered what was going on. He sent a long glance towards the green-eyed boy.

Could she really not see Harry? Was that what was wrong with his dad earlier when they were downstairs in the kitchen?

"Must have. I'm getting too old for my own good," she tried joking, but her voice was heavy. She walked up to him and he offered her the vial of potion which she took readily. "Thanks again, honey. I should be getting ready for work now."

He nodded as she left, then quickly turned to Harry. The boy, in turn, stared back with eyes wide.

"She couldn't see me," he whispered.

Severus half nodded, half shook his head. He couldn't comprehend anything. Maybe this Harry guy was dead, and was a ghost. He sure looked in the right state to be dead in any case.

"You're a ghost, aren't you?"

"Ghost?" he asked, surprised by the resolution he gave. "But I didn't die!"

"You look like you might have though. Look at all that blood," Severus pointed out dully.

Said boy look down again, and his face paled more - if that was even possible. Severus as well took in his appearance again to see if the proportions fit.

He was pale, but not transparent. He was bloody, but the crusty red stains brushed off his body into flakes, unlike that of the Bloody Baron at his school. That didn't seem like something a ghost would have acquired to their bodies.

"I don't feel dead," Harry said while running his hands along his arms. "I don't feel cold."

"Then what are you? They couldn't see you," Severus pointed out.

"I don't know. I don't even know why I'm here - it's obvious I'm not at home anymore."

"Where do you live?" he asked suddenly. It had never occurred him to ask before.

"I live in Surrey, on Privet Drive"

Severus blinked. "I don't know where that is," he admitted.

"Of course not," he said as if stating the obvious. "It's probably not even a street yet…"

"What's that supposed to mean. You said you lived there - so it's obviously a street that exists," he said hotly. Was this kid trying to mess with his head?

"Look," he began, eyes now firmly focused on Severus. The gaze sent chills up his spine, and he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the intensity of it, but Severus had the feeling that it was because of something else. "You're supposed to be thirty-something years old. Instead, you're my age. Two - your parents; I've only seen them before once in your memories. For all I know, they're dead."

"Wait," Severus interrupted. "What do you mean by 'in' my memories?"

He could feel anger rise up in his chest. Was this kid spying on him? But that wouldn't make any sense - he'd just said that he'd only seen them before in his 'thirty-something's' self's memory.

"You were trying to teach me… occlumency. I accidentally got into your head instead." Severus noted that the boy was slightly defiant when he spoke.

He groaned. All this was giving him a headache. Was it supposed to be some kind of mind game? He crossed his arms across his thin chest. "I've never seen you before in my life, so how could I teach you anything?"

"That's just it!" he shouted, as if it explained it all. "I've seen you as your older self, not as you are… now."

"Are you trying to tell me that you're from the future?" Severus' voice was dry.

"Possibly. If you're from the past," he replied, chewing on his lower lip and avoiding the ring in his lip. Severus took his eyes off of the movement and focused on his own hands.

"How's it possible?"

"I have no idea. Believe me, if I knew how it happened, I'd find some way to get back - and fast." His voice was once again frantic.

Severus shook his head. "Then we'll just have to find a way for you to get back - I can't very well keep you in my room for the rest of your life."

Harry stared, incredulous. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were anything but my professor. He sure as hell wouldn't have said anything like that to me where I'm from."

Severus looked away. He wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. But he wouldn't ask Harry about himself.

If it was all true and he really was from the future, then he'd rather not know what happened.

But hey, at least he knew he'd still be alive years from then.

A/N: So far, so good. I'm glad you like it so far, Sara. :D I'll post the next chapter soon probably, since it's already written.