Save me from your nightmares
By RocketFAN
Chapter 2: Misguided Anger
"Potter!" Snape yelled angrily as Harry forcibly entered his office.
"What is going on with you, Professor? Why do you keep canceling my Occlumency lessons?" Harry stormed angrily towards Severus, who was now on his feet.
"How dare you, Potter! I told you to go away!" Severus was livid as Harry stood his ground. Severus Snape no longer intimidated him and he knew it. As Harry got a closer look at him, he could see the fatigue that was written all over his sallow face. His dark, piercing eyes were hallowed and rimmed with dark circles. They were also filled with an emotion that Harry had never seen in them before… fear. Severus Snape was scared… but of what?
"Is everything all right, Professor?" Harry said as he lowered his wand as the sight of Snape taking a step back. He was retreating from Harry as if he was afraid of him.
"Your Occlumency lessons will no longer take place," Severus sneered as Harry tucked his wand back into his back pocket.
"Why not?" Harry asked while taking a step back himself.
"I refuse to further bear the weight of your… troubled past," Severus said through clenched teeth as he tried to contain his anger with Harry for forcibly entering his office.
"My past? What do you mean?" Harry asked him, confused by Snape's statement.
"By penetrating your mind, I have un-intentionally intercepted your worst memories. Memories that have embedded themselves in my mind and refuse to let themselves out," Severus explained while backing Harry up against the wall and gripping his collar in anger.
"My-my memories? You've been seeing my worst memories?" Harry stammered as Snape's tight grip on his collar choked him.
"Seeing… hearing… re-living," Severus hissed at him, reminding Harry why he was the Head of Slytherin House.
"I-I'm sorry," Harry choked while unsuccessfully trying to wriggle out of his tightening grip. "Let go!" He said weakly as he desperately tried to pry Snape's fingers loose from his neck as they were now digging into his skin.
"You're sorry?!You're sorry, Potter?!" Severus was as mad as Harry had ever seen him. His tight grip on Harry's throat suddenly loosened and Harry fell to his knees as his head rushed from the several minutes of being strangled.
"This wasn't my idea!" Harry sobbed as he scrambled for his wand but was too dizzy to retrieve it before the intense lightheadedness caused him to fall back against the wall. "Please…," his pleading voice was so much like his mother's the night she was murdered.
"Get up, Potter," Snape's voice was almost sympathetic as he pulled Harry up by his arm and shoved him toward the door. "I suggest you listen to me next time I tell you to go away," he added in a tone that Harry could only take as a warning as he was tossed viciously out of the room.
"Oh…my…," Harry panted breathlessly as the heavy metal door slammed behind him, causing the entire hallway to rattle.
On the other side of the door, Severus was almost as surprised as Harry was at his behavior. He had never lost control like that, especially with a student… an innocent student who had done nothing to him that he could possibly control. Shaking and panting from his emotional outburst, he leaned back against the closed door and slid down to the floor. His cruel and unfair treatment of Harry hurt him as much as it hurt the person it was aimed at. How could he have been so horrible to the boy that had already been through so much pain in his life?
"Damn it…," Severus whimpered helplessly as he sat on the cold ground and pulled his knees into his chest. "Harry… I'm so sorry…," he sobbed while burying his face in his hands. However, it was too late as the room hung in eerie silence. The echo of his harsh words rang in his head.