Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it belongs to JK Rowling, etc, etc. Anyone who thinks I do own Harry Potter is an idiot.

A/N: I know you guys are probably eager for more Hermione. Don't worry. She will be back next chapter and things can really get going. Hope you enjoy this one either way. I'm trying to at least give you guys at least thousand words with these chapters. Some may be more than that, I hope, but I promise they will at least be a thousand words.

Steps Toward Something

Chapter Four

'Stupefy!' The spell burst along the training dummy with a red glow.

'Good,' Snape praised, nodding his head.

Harry turned from facing the mannequin and regarded his mentor. 'I still don't get why this spell is so important. If I'm being attacked, shouldn't I be trying to hurt my attackers, rather than just… putting them to sleep?' Harry said that last part with a derisive tone to his voice.

Snape regarded him for a moment. 'Okay, Potter. Say you hurt your attacker; he's down on the floor, in pain, but still conscious. What then?'

Harry thought for a moment. 'Then I…' He was going to say, "kill him", but suddenly he thought of Hermione, and what she might think of that, and he found himself unable to say the words.

'Then you what?' Snape looked at him as if he knew what he was thinking.

Harry shrugged, and looked away. 'I dunno.'

'And while you hesitate, your attacker takes the time to finish you off. You're dead. Congratulations, Potter.' Snape jabbed his wand into Harry's chest for emphasis.

Harry knocked the wand away with a scowl and walked over to stare at one of the bookshelves in Snape's living room, which was really just an excuse not to have to look at his mentor. 'Fine, okay, so you're saying I should focus on knocking out my enemies so they can't hurt me…'

'Precisely.' Snape let him think on that for moment. 'Look, Potter, I know how you feel. I understand wanting to hurt the people that are trying to hurt you. The feeling of wanting to see them scream in pain for even thinking they can attack you and get away with it.'

'Do you?' Harry interrupted, turning to scrutinize his guardian.

Snape stared back solemnly. 'I do.'

And Harry saw that he did. He recognised the look within Snape's eyes, laid bare to him for this moment, because he saw them every time he stared into a mirror. Uncomfortable, Harry resumed his perusing of the bookcase, his fingers idly trailing along the shelves and the spines of the various volumes.

'The point, Potter, is that you can't let that rage control you. It took me many years, and countless mistakes, mistakes that I can never…' Snape paused and sucked in a painful breath. 'Mistakes I can never take back, to come to terms with that truth. I share it with you now because I don't want to see you go down the same path that I did. You need to control it, use it to fuel you when needed, but never let it consume you. Do you understand?'

Harry wasn't sure he did, but he lied anyway. 'Yeah, I do.'

There was another pregnant pause, then Snape said, 'that's enough for today. Go and pack up your things. We're travelling back to Hogwarts a little earlier than planned.'

Harry turned to look at Snape, but the wizard was already leaving the room. He was going to ask why, but as he thought about it, he realised he didn't really care. He was going back to Hogwarts, and that was all that mattered. He quickly dashed up to his room to prepare.

The first thing he packed was the Marauder's Map.

(-)

After their little chat atop the hill overlooking the park, Snape had explained to Harry why it was so important that he stay indoors during their stay at Spinner's End. In short, Snape believed that the wizard responsible for the death of Harry's parents was still out there, weakened by his failed attempt on Harry, but still alive in some way, shape, or form.

Snape explained it all. How the Dark Lord had somehow learnt of a prophecy relating to Harry, and how his parents had tried to hide. How Voldemort had found them and tried to kill them. How Harry's mother had protected him, causing the Killing Curse to backfire and, at least for the time being, incapacitate his would be murderer. How the prophecy foretold of their eventual confrontation, and how one would have to kill the other.

It was a heavy piece of knowledge to learn, that you're destined to face off with arguably the most powerful wizard known to exist, and either live and be victorious, or lose, and die.

Snape also told him of his theory; that the snake Harry had dreamt about so often as a child was in fact a fragment of that Dark Lord that had somehow latched onto Harry during his failed assassination attempt.

That knowledge, more than anything, enraged Harry. This wizard, the so-called Dark Lord Voldemort, had been messing with his entire life. Since birth he had been behind every wretched thing that had happened to Harry. He was the cause of it all. He had stolen Harry's childhood. Robbed him of a loving family. Tormented his young mind.

And yet, the saddest part of it all, that snake - that fragment of Voldemort - was the closest thing he had to a friend. It had taught him in his sleep. Listened to all his hurts and consoled him. Perhaps most importantly, it had protected him from his abusive relatives when no one else would.

It was true, at least, before Hermione. She had changed it all when she became his friend, a real friend this time, one of flesh and blood. And while he could not touch her, and she did not speak to him in any vocal sense, in truth, it was more than he had before. More than he ever hoped to have.

Which is why he was determined to find a place for them within Hogwarts. Armed with the Marauder's Map, Harry made his way through the dark, practically deserted castle, in the middle of the night, using it to avoid any potential encounters with Filch. He was searching each and every hidden corridor, one by one, looking for that perfect spot.

The first few proved to be unsuitable. One was completely blocked off. Another was only a cramped narrow tunnel that seemed to go on forever and ever. Harry gave up after half an hour with no end in sight. He made a mental note to follow it all the way to the end at a later date.

Finally, he came across another collapsed passageway, however this one was quite wide, and had more than enough room for it to be made liveable. He could see it now. Summon a few drapes to hide the ugly rubble blocking the way; add a nice plush carpet or rug, some chairs and a table over in the corner, and perhaps a bookshelf. There was even room for a small cot if one of them wanted to sleep there.

Harry smiled. Yes, it would work wonderfully, at least for the time being. He was still determined to find the real Chamber of Secrets, if it even existed. It wasn't on the Marauder's Map, so perhaps it didn't. Then again, maybe Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, whoever they were, had never discovered it either. And if that was the case, it could prove challenging to uncover.

Harry did love a challenge.

The rest of the Hogwarts student body would be arriving in five days, which meant he had more than enough time to get the secret den ready for Hermione, and finish searching the rest of the hidden passageways on the Map.

With a purposeful wave of his wand, Harry began.