Chapter 15! Excellent Dude. This one has some things that i absolutely love. I feel strongly that Harry could have done more with his gifts and powers if given the chance and a good enough reason. I mean the kid could cast a Patronus Charm at 13! That's unheard of and i think that Harry had some great potential but lacked someone to pull it out of him. REview and tell me how you liked the chapter!

Snape rushed into Harry's room to see the boy tossing and turning in bed. Unsure of what to do he moved forward until he heard a small broken voice come from the boy's mouth.

"Please sir. It was an accident. It won't happen again."

The voice was begging. It sounded as if Harry was begging for his life and in many ways perhaps he was. It froze Snape and he saw that Harry had stiffened and began to flinch violently every few seconds. He could almost see the belt raining down on him. Harry didn't make a sound for a while until a sob broke out and he began yelling.

"SNAPE PLEASE DON'T I NEED PLEASE MAKE HIM STOP! PROFESSOR I NEED YOU. DON'T GO!" Harry was shouting at first but then it calmed. "Please I can't do this again please."

Snape moved forward and grabbed Harry gently. He began rubbing his back and whispering calming words that meant nothing. The boy continued to struggle for quite a few minutes fighting against a nonexistent uncle. Snape held on though. Eventually after what seemed like an eternity the boy woke up. Snape could tell because he stiffened for a moment as his head jerked side to side. Then the boy relaxed in his arms.

"What happened in this one?"

"I don't- I can't…"

"Harry." Snape said quietly. "You will sleep better if you talk it through."

"I was back at my relatives house…" Harry began quietly. "I was uh polishing the good plates. My uncle came out of nowhere and he pushed me so that the plates went everywhere."

Harry took in a deep breath at that point and began to rock back and forth.

"That's a punishable offense. So he grabbed me, suddenly I was in my room and he was getting his belt ready. I saw you outside the house trying to get in. Then it started and it hurt but I didn't move cause that would make it worse. My uncle was saying some nasty things." Harry continued. "He told me I'd never escape and that no one would ever want to help me. Eventually you decided I wasn't worth the effort and you left. You left me."

After that Harry curled into himself and began sobbing. Snape honestly had no idea what to say for a moment. How does a person justify the actions of their dreams self? Does one even try? Snape decided to not even try to bother with his dream self and move on to issues he could easily solve.

"Harry. You are never going to return to that hell whole again. I will not allow it. The headmaster will not allow it, nor will Minerva. You have already escaped your Uncle."

Snape said these words passionately and with more emotion that his voice was normally capable of. It seemed however Harry was unable to hear him as he just rocked back and forth in a little ball. Snape summoned a calming draught and grabbed the vial as it came in.

"Harry I have a calming draught for you. I need you to sit up and drink it."

Harry got up and grabbed the vial after a little more prodding. He drained it and within in a moment began to relax slowly.

"It's just never going to go away. He's always going to be in the back of my mind." Harry said desolately. "I'm always going to wonder when the next encounter is going to be."

"You aren't going to see that man ever again." Snape said.

"Maybe not. But there's always death eaters and Voldemort to consider."

"What do you mean?" Snape asked even though his chest had gone cold.

"That crazy homicidal maniac who orphaned me will never ever leave me alone. I won't be able to avoid him forever. Every year he is going to try something new until he gets back into power and then he will try and kill me. He probably will, I'm not as strong as him."

"You don't know that."

"I do."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Think about it. When I defeated him almost 11 years ago he was powerful and strong. At the top of his game. No one but Dumbledore could even hope to match him for power. Then one Halloween on perhaps a standard fear or revenge mission he breaks into my home. He kills my dad and then my mom. Then tries to murder me a powerless fifteen month old. Then I, the freak of nature I am, rebound the curse back on him defeating him. Except not completely." Harry said his voice like steel. "He is a powerless wraith floating around Europe cursing me and planning ways to come back into power. When he does he will come after me to prove that his defeat was just a fluke and that he should be respected. He will, and he won't stop until he does. What I said to him last month doesn't help much either."

"What did happen down there?"

"What do you think happened?" Harry asked cocking his head to the side while sitting up.

"The headmaster wasn't very clear on the details. All I know was that three idiot 11 year olds decided to face off against an evil teacher. They went down and completed the gauntlet easily. Weasley was injured while playing chess. You went forward alone and faced up against the possessed Quirrel. You defeated him using your mother's love and collapsed. Dumbledore then took you to the infirmary."
"Well that's mostly right. I didn't tell anyone what happened in that room between Quirrel, Voldemort and myself." Harry said. "I was ashamed and disgusted with myself and didn't want to talk about it with anyone."

"Why?"

"I murdered someone. I mean yeah he was possessed but he was still a person and I murdered him with my bare hands."

"Harry you were defending yourself."

"I know but it still feels wrong. To do that to someone."

"Would you like to tell me what happened?"

"Not right now. I just want to sleep."

"Alright Harry. Do you need anything?"

"I just feel so scared." Harry admitted in a quiet voice.

Snape found himself once again sleeping in that bed being used as a pillow. He transfigured his clothing into comfortable pajamas and prepared to sleep. Harry did not stir at all for the rest of the night.

Severus awoke to the sound of hissing. In fact he opened one of his eyes to see Harry hissing at his arm and his arm hissing back. Snape's eyes snapped shut and his heart stopped beating at the fact that his dark mark had been discovered. Did Harry know what the mark meant? Why was he conversing with it? How was he conversing with it? What was going on?

Snape struggled to not move as he listened to the hissing conversation he could not comprehend. Suddenly Harry shot up and started angrily hissing, rage sparking from his frame. Then Snape felt something strange in his arm. It was an almost painful tingling centered on his mark. It was reminiscent of when he received it except a whole lot less painful.

The tingling stopped and then another hiss issued from his arm. Harry relaxed then and hissed back. Snape felt Harry get off the bed at that point and wandered into the bathroom. When the door clicked shut Snape shot up and examined his arm. The mark was different. It looked the same but it felt different.

The dark mark always had a malignant feel to it. The after effects of the dark magic. It felt like a branding for a slave. Looking at it for too long would make someone feel dark. The mark didn't have that any more. Instead it felt peaceful. It was just a magical tattoo now. What had Harry done?

Harry returned after a moment and gave him a crooked smile. His hair was wet and for once lying flat on itself under the weight. Apparently Snape had been distracted enough for Harry to take a shower.

"Nice snake you've got there. Feel like explaining yourself?" Harry said in a way that made it clear he knew what it was.

"Only if you tell me what you did to it."

"I changed its loyalty."

"What?"

"Snakes, real or otherwise, are loyal to the most powerful parselmouth they meet." Harry explained after sitting. "The creator of that snake is currently very weak and wraith like. I've defeated Moldyshorts twice so it was rather easy to convince that little snake to change his loyalties."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, if my assumptions are correct, that Dark Mark is no longer connected to Voldemort, that Dark Mark can no longer lead you to Voldemort, that Dark Mark can no longer give you pain unless I wish it. In a way you changed masters."

"Please explain from the beginning." Snape said exasperated.

"Only if you explain why you, my current caretaker bears the mark of someone who wants to kill me."

So at 7:16 in the morning on June 21st Severus Snape explained his past to Harry Potter. The abusive father who was the last member of the Prince family, who had raped a muggleborn witch. Who had then forced said woman to marry him when she gave birth to a male heir and then murdered her when he was just eight years old. The father who agreed with Voldemort, who forced his son into his servitude. How after his father's death had taken his chance and run to Dumbledore. Snape's transformation from death eater to spy.

"So you're still a spy?" Harry asked after a moment.

"Yes. Well yes unless the mark no longer works that way."

"It doesn't. When I saw the mark this morning I got so scared that I nearly blew myself up with a burst of magic. Your tattoo is a sentient snake so I could talk to it pretty easily. We spoke for a while, he explained his creation and abilities and purpose. I realized that I could remove at least one servant from my enemies clutches by fighting for the snake's loyalty. I won so he changed himself to fit my wishes."

"So I'm free?"

"Yep, the snake on your arm is now just a sentient snake he no longer brands and ties you to Voldemort."

"Can you change the way the snake looks?" Snape asked after a moment.

"Sure hold out your arm." Harry commanded sliding next to Snape on the bed.

Snape watched in fascination as Harry hissed out his instructions to the snake. The snake uncurled and the skull disappeared. The snake instead curled around Snape's arm like a bracelet and turned an emerald color with silver markings. It was an elegant look and more importantly one that did not mark Snape as the slave of an evil man.

"I must tell the headmaster." Snape said excitedly.

Snape stood up and started running around his quarters in an excited flurry. For the first time in a long time he was utterly free. Snape was about to run through the castle in his pajamas when he saw Harry sitting at the breakfast table with a smirk. Snape was so full of emotions that the normally dour and serious man had a giddy smile on his face. He ran at Harry and picked him in a hug spinning the boy around.

"I'm free! No masters no fathers nothing. Thank you Harry."

"Sir please put me down." Harry gasped out.

"Harry. Call me Severus. I can think of no other person on this earth who deserves to use my first name more than you do." Snape said after putting Harry down.

"Alright Severus." Harry said after a moments hesitation. "Now how about we have breakfast and get ready to go to Diagon Alley now. I'd rather you not tell the Headmaster just yet."

"Why?"

"Because then you'd have to tell him how I did that and then he would know about my Parseltongue." Harry said. "I don't know how he would react to that."

"I understand but he needs to know that it happened. Please let me tell him soon."

"Alright I guess." Harry said. "Now can we eat now? I'm starving."

Snape smirked and sat down next to Harry to eat. Every few seconds he would glance at his left arm and smile widely. He would've never chosen that kind of design for a tattoo but it was a delicate interesting look. Something that was decidedly Slytherin. After Snape went to his room and for the first time in his entire adult life wore robes that were loose around the wrists. They were a dark green, so dark they were almost black. He walked out into the living room to await Harry.

At 9:04 Harry walked into the room except it wasn't Harry. It was a boy with long shoulder length black hair that looked silky and dark brown eyes. The boy was also shorter and lacked the characteristic scar. In fact the boy looked exactly like a young Severus Snape without the severely hooked nose.

"Harry?" Severus stuttered out.

"Severus. Do you like my new look?"

"What did you do?"

"Well I was thinking. I have never needed a haircut. Not once, which was pretty lucky since my relatives would've never given me one. I would've come to Hogwarts with hair as long as my own body. So a week or so ago I looked up in the library if wizards needed haircuts or not." Harry explained. "Apparently they do but I don't. So[AR1] I looked into human transfigurations and found out about something called a metamorphagus."

"Please don't tell me." Severus begged.

"You guessed it. Yours truly can change how he looks. I figured for our trip into the public eye it would be best to look not famous."

"That would make things decidedly easier."

"Well you can just call me, Lukas." Harry said after a moment's thought. "At least until we get into the bank. If anyone asks you who I am."

"You're a cousin from my father's side of the family. You look just like a Prince." Severus interrupted.

"Alright. You ready to go?"

"We will be flooing straight to the Leaky Cauldron. I expect you to be on your best behavior."

"I would never dream of misbehaving around my dear older cousin Severus. I mean I've looked up to him for like ever. He is such a cool guy." Harry began sounding like a young boy. "I mean he is a super famous potions master and everything!"

As Harry continued speaking he slowly grew smaller until he looked to be around an 8 year old. He even gave himself a lisp. Snape couldn't stop himself from chuckling.

"Come on Severus! We've got to go. I can't wait to go get ice cream and spend time with my favorite cousin."

So Severus smiling the entire time taught 'Lukas' how to use floo powder. The walked through the emerald flames and entered the Leaky Cauldron. Snape knew that the moment he agreed to let Harry pretend to be an 8 year old he had signed up for something awful. The moment they stepped through Harry began to act like the excited 8 year old he looked like.

"Severus! Hurry up!" Harry said dragging the normally serious man through the Leaky cauldron.

Almost every patron at the Leaky Cauldron had either heard or come face to face with Severus Snape's legendary temper. So they all stopped and watched to see the explosion that would come at the small child who was being so liberal with him. Some of the recent graduates from Hogwarts nearly fainted when the angry man smiled and allowed himself to be man handled by an eight year old.

The crowds at Diagon Alley were insane but they stared at Severus often. Never before had he been the subject of scrutiny like this. He didn't think things could get worse until he saw one of his colleagues at the apothecary.

"Severus?" Caleb Young called out. "Come over here old boy.

Caleb Young is the second youngest potions master in the Britain. He had given Severus his potions mastery staff. He was one of the few Severus could call friend despite the fact that Caleb was in his fifties. Snape felt his stomach fall to his feet, Harry would not let him live this one down.

"Caleb. It's nice to see you."

"Severus. I never thought I would see the day when you weren't wearing oppressive black and glaring at children." Caleb said smiling. "Who is this strapping young man?" he asked leaning down.

"My name is Lukas Prince!" Harry said sticking out his hand to be shaken. "I am Severus' cousin and he is taking me around Diagon Alley today."

"Is he really? Where are you going to go today?"

"We are going to go to the apothecary." Harry said with a dazzling smile. "We are surely going to get ice cream and have sundaes. Severus has other errands like at the bank too."

"If you are going to get ice cream I must insist you go to Fortesque's it has the best ice cream in all of wizarding Britain."

"I've never had wizarding ice cream! Is it better than the muggle kind?"

"Of course, young man. It has magic in it." Caleb said conspiratorially.

"Severus! We have to go there! We have to!" Harry said turning onto Snape.

"It depends on how you behave Lukas." Snape said trying not to blush. "Caleb we must really be going. I look forward to reading about your work."

Snape beat a hasty retreat being followed by Harry. When the made it to the steps of the bank he turned around to see Harry giving him a devilish grin.

"I wonder how many people I can ruin your persona for."

"You will pay for this!" Severus seethed.

"I already have. I'm taking the day to be the child I never got to be. Would you really begrudge me that?"

Snape had nothing to say to that. Instead they walked into the bank. Harry made it straight to the bathroom and came out in a few minutes looking normal. Snape followed him as he went up to one of the tellers.

"Hello. I would like to request a lineage potion test and then claim and vaults that are mine by heir right. I would also like to claim the heir ring to the Potter family."

"Name?" The goblin asked while writing everything down on parchment.

"Harry Potter."

"Age?"

"11."

"Very well. Mr. Potter, Griphook will escort you to one of our offices." The goblin said pointing to another goblin who had appeared.

"Hello Griphook. It has been some time since I saw you last." Harry said smiling at the goblin.

"You remember me?"
"You escorted me to one of my vaults last year." Harry said knowingly.

The goblin stared at him a moment before shaking his head and leading them down a few hallways. He led them into an office and asked them to sit down. Harry sat down easily and Snape did as well feeling that it was really strange that he was even there.

[AR1]