Hello all! I am so excited that the weather is so beautiful today! (At least in MI) ;) Here's another chapter, and I thank you all for reading it! And thanks especially to all the reviewers of the last chapter: Moon Lantern, DragonSlayer2187, fuzzysocksandwriting and plums. :)

Enjoy!

Chapter 16 LPFAL: Almost Reunited

It had been her. It had to have been her.

The mane of auburn red hair sticking out from the blanket Snape – Snape of all people! – had been carrying was burned into his mind.

It had to be her. There's no other explanation.

He felt a strange, burning desire to know, to understand. He had felt a strange connection with the red-haired girl ever since that first dream during the summer, and the feeling that he simply needed to find her had grown with every passing day.

Had she been the reason Voldemort had been angry for the whole day? Had she escaped and earned the wrath of the Dark Lord – causing the constant fury and pain in Harry's scar?

Harry started suddenly as a hand was waved in front of his face. He looked up to see Hermione's and Ron's faces – both looking worried – staring at him.

"What?" he asked, the word sounding harsher to his ears than he had meant to speak. "Sorry," he amended sheepishly. "Did you say something?"

Hermione nodded cautiously. "We've been trying for a minute or so to get your attention. You just sort of spaced out all of a sudden and I wasn't really sure what to do," she looked apprehensive. "Are you alright? Do you need to sleep some more? Should we call over Madam Pomfrey? Is it your scar? Your hand? Your head? Are you-"

"Hermione, relax. I'm perfectly fine, just spaced out for a moment," he held her brown eyes with his own. "Trust me."

She still looked worried, but sat back in her seat, nodding. "If you say so…" she said doubtfully.

Madam Pomfrey came over to his bed, a disapproving look on her face. "That's quite enough, Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley. Your afternoon classes start in five minutes."

"Oh no!" Hermione cried. "I'm going to be late!"

She rushed around, collecting her bag and saying a hurried goodbye to Harry before speeding out of the Hospital Wing.

Ron stared after her, seemingly in a daze.

"Mental, that one," he said finally, blinking hurriedly. "See you later, mate. Reckon we can come 'round for dinner as well?"

"Hope so," Harry said, smiling at his friend's choice of words. "Have fun in Divination." His grin widened at Ron's grimace.

"What, with that old bat? And with you missing, she's going to have a field day with you up here– she'll probably be even worse than usual. "

"You'd better hurry if you want to make it on time. And with Umbridge inspecting her class every day you don't want to get detention."

Despite Harry's joking tone, Ron stiffened slightly, glancing quickly at Harry's bandaged hand and away again, eyes showing a hint of fear.

"Yeah – um, I'll just be going then – so, yeah – see you later."

He scurried out of the Hospital Wing.

Harry sighed, dropping his head onto the pillow and stifling a curse when stars appeared before his eyes from pain.

Madam Pomfrey, who had gone over to the potions cabinet in the corner of the ward, came back with three vials of various potions.

"One for clearing out any possible infections, one to promote healing and one for the pain," she listed off curtly, passing them to him one-by-one and giving him a stern glare to counteract his pleading look. "And yes you do have to drink all of them, no matter how you may think you are doing."

"But-"

"Drink them, Potter," she warned, cutting him off abruptly. "Now," she added tersely when he still looked hesitant.

Harry sighed and drank the three potions quickly, coughing as he nearly choked on the last one and gratefully accepting the glass of water she gave him. At least his head didn't hurt so much anymore.

"Teenagers," she sighed, shaking her head. She smiled though, and whispered "So much alike."

Harry heard and was about to ask what she had meant when Snape stepped through the white curtains that were surrounding the bed, the girl who had been in his arms conspicuously absent.

There was a moment of hesitation where black and green eyes met, but Snape moved quickly on. Harry was still for another moment, but suddenly shouted out.

"Professor!"

Snape paused, halfway through the doorway.

"What do you want Potter," he asked, sounding as though he would prefer to be anywhere else.

"Please sir, tell me who that girl was. I'm sure I know-"

A brief look of surprise crossed Snape's usually emotionless features, but he quickly sneered again. "I told you it's none of your business."

"But I-"

"No matter what you might feel for her, it's none of your concern."

"I just-"

"You can't have everything you want done for you, Potter."

"I want-"

"Take it up with the headmaster if it's really that large of a problem," He again turned to head out the Hospital Wing door.

"I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHO SHE IS!" He yelled, clenching his fists and fighting back a yell of pain because of the inflammation on his hand. "I HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW! I NEED TO KNOW!"

There was silence as Harry's breath came in short, pained bursts. "I need- need to –need to know."

A few tears fell from his closed eyes, from both frustration and hurt. Not hearing a reply from Snape, Harry rolled away from the door and buried his face into his pillow. He was tired of Snape's game, he didn't care about the façade he knew he had been putting up, and he only wanted to solve the mystery of the girl who had been haunting his dreams.

Why was she injured? Why is she here? Why does she look so much like my mother?

With the last question running through his mind, more tears came to his eyes and he let them fall. Tears kept coming and he sobbed silently, biting his lip to keep any noise from escaping.

A large hand on Harry's shoulder caused him to flinch instinctively. Looking up only to see inky black robes, Harry rolled to his other side, away from Snape, the tears still coming thick and fast.

The tall man rolled his eyes and, glancing around the infirmary, conjured a barrier of white curtains around Harry's bed identical to those on the other side of the room so they had some privacy.

"Potter. Stop that this instant."

Nothing.

"Potter. I'm warning you."

Still nothing.

"Harry."

No answer, save for a pair of shaking shoulders disguising sobs.

"Harry, look at me," Snape said, trying to consciously drop his cold exterior and feel more empathy for the boy. He remembered how he had been desperate to know about Leah and who she was ever since he had seen her on his doorstep. But he just gets everyone he meets into trouble. I can't let Leah get caught up in his schemes. He thought angrily. She's the last link I have to Lily - her eyes, her hair, her- Snape sighed, forcibly stopping his train of thought. Hadn't Dumbledore always emphasized the fact that Harry was Lily's son, not just Potter's spawn? From what Potter had said, he had seen the girl before, though not in the school. And from what Dumbledore had said, he would be meeting his sister soon anyway. But how could he have seen her before? She has been with the Dark Lord for over a month. He couldn't have seen her anywhere.

Harry still hadn't turned back over and tears still fell from his closed eyes, but his sobs had stopped.

Taking the initiative and swallowing his own pride, Snape stepped around the bed and crouched down so his face was level with Harry's. "Harry, please look at me," Snape repeated.

The black-haired boy opened his eyes, but looked past his Professor's head to the curtain behind him. "What do you want?" he asked in a monotone. His eyes were still red and bloodshot.

"To know how where you've seen that girl before," Snape replied, giving Harry a stern look.

"How do you know I've seen her before?" Harry asked defensively, green eyes flicking to meet black. "I never said that."

"Why else would you want to know about her so badly? How else would you know about her? And why would you care if you did?"

Harry paused, obviously trying to figure out whether the questions were valid or not. When it seemed that he couldn't come up with an argument against them, he simply said "Dream," and returned to staring past Snape's head.

"What kind of dream?" Snape asked patiently, though on the inside, his brain was spinning. Were they the same kind of dreams Leah had after returning from Voldemort's captivity?

Taking a guess that it was hardly just one dream, Snape asked "When did you have these dreams?"

When Harry didn't contradict him, he knew he had been right. It was a reoccurring dream, or rather nightmare. "Almost every day since a few weeks before I came to school. She's been in every one. Every time, he would be hurting her."

Harry didn't shed any more tears, but his gaze was distant and unfocused. "He would torture her, and she would scream, but she would never tell him to stop. Never. And she looks just like- just like my mum."

His words were a whisper, and Snape's heart clenched as he heard the boy's account. Just like my mum. He would torture her. Lily. How often had the Dark Lord gloated over his trophy? Used the Cruciatus curse multiple times on the girl in front of a Death Eater meeting that Snape hadn't had the misfortune to attend because of his teaching duties?

He sighed shakily and closed his eyes, in an effort to collect his thoughts. Harry has to know. Dumbledore can't keep her from him any longer. It is wrong to keep them from each other, especially as both of them will play key roles in the coming though it's almost surprising he hasn't already figured it out himself.

"You will meet her soon," he said simply, taking a liberty and gently tucking a lock of dark hair behind Harry's ear. "I swear it."

And he was gone in a swish of black robes, leaving a stunned and slack-jawed Harry Potter in his wake.

So how did you like it? Next chapter is the one where Leah and Harry meet, so how do you think they will react? Leave a review about anything! I get to learn how to make my story better/improve my writing and you get your name listed at the top of the chapter! What a bonus! ;)

Thanks again for reading! Have a wonderful week!