A/N: This story will not exactly follow canon. This isn't going to turn into a Dark!Harry fic, or a fic where Harry is super powerful. I'm just telling you in case you get those impressions from this chapter. In the summary, I wrote that Snape will be a mentor in this fic, although it isn't showing now, I promise you that Snape will be playing a big role in this story.

Resolutions

All men should strive to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.

-James Thurber

Dark clouds of smoke swirled throughout his mind. It was hypnotic in a way. It swirled and churned in a pattern he was now familiar with. If he was under different circumstances he would have found it comforting. For what seemed like an eternity he had seen nothing but this dark dance play in front of his eyes. Every once in a while it would part, each time it did so he would try to reach for the light that lead to his consciousness. Instead, his escape would be shielded as that memory surrounded him once again.

Draco Malfoy was not used to being haunted by the actions of his past. However, the exquisite detail of this memory made his stomach churn and his mind fill with emotions he wasn't accustomed too. He once again saw himself attack Potter. He had effortlessly and thoughtlessly immobilized his rival while his back was turned. The power that consumed him as he instigated the resulting fight was intoxicating.

The swirling darkness again covered his vision before revealing the next segment. He realized that this must be what guilt feels like. He knew he had felt it before, but not like this. This was guilt and shame mixed together. Though he didn't understand the hold the darkness had on him, he knew that it wasn't causing his uncharacteristic remorse. This was the first time that his own actions had caused this kind of internal turmoil.

Potter's face was swollen from falling, anger, and fear seeping through his green eyes. It was odd to see this boy he had hated the past three years show fear, in the past he had never done so in their previous confrontations. For some reason this revelation had bothered him the more it was replayed. Not only could he see fear, he could see weakness. Potter's eyes showed anger at this unexplained weakness, the inability to move and defend himself. Shame again swelled as he saw himself grin at this revealed weakness, and then kick Potter in the face, the tissue and cartilage being displaced by the contact of his foot. The sound it made was sickening. At that moment in time he had looked just like his father.

While observing his father throughout the years he had become unaffected by his cold personality and apparent disregard to the wants, feelings, and needs of others. He had learned to basically live without a father. The only thing Lucius ever offered him was money, hoping material possessions would satisfy his son enough to not cause him any trouble.

His indifference to his father changed when the elder Malfoy started to hit his mother. First he felt rage that his father would do such a thing. Then he grew fearful as he saw the abuse take place more frequently. Lucius was cold, and unthinking when he would hit his mother. It seemed as though he would strike her without preemptive thought. That would change after each time he first hit her. It was a simple reaction at first, then it became pleasure, continuing his vicious attacks as he dominated his wife in a way that only he got satisfaction from. He would never use his wand when abusing his mother. Striking her with his bare hands was more gratifying than if he just held her under the Cruciatus. Being able to feel and hear the bones break, and see the bruises and blood appear caused his father a happiness he had only felt while serving as a Death Eater. Malfoy easily saw the kind of man his father was as a loyal servant to the dark wizard. The Dark Lord gave permission to satisfy those dark urges, and then he would praise his servants, which in turn intensified their need to cause chaos, to torture and terrify the innocent and young.

Is that what I am becoming? A loyal Death Eater, ready to join his ranks were He to return? He had looked the same as his father as he had nearly killed Harry Potter. He knew he had gained pleasure from causing the pain. At the moment it hadn't sickened him, didn't phase him at all. He was too caught up in the excitement his actions afforded him to realize exactly what he was doing. It was terrifying to see how Potter had looked at him once he had gotten up. His face was defiant and angry, the same way his mother would look at his father after her face and body was broken and torn by his hands. And I had laughed in turn, just as my father had done when faced with mothers contempt. What could possibly happen to you when your darkest appetites are sated?

The segment closed as the darkness whirled in front his mind, starting its dance over again. He had realized that the more he viewed the memory the more pieces that went missing. He knew that he had seen what happened after attacking Potter, but for some reason he could no longer recall the events, and he was sure that the next time the dancing ended he would discover that more pieces would be missing. Is my current condition caused by what happened afterward? Is that why I can't remember what happened?

The moment he woke up he knew that he had to fix what he had done. If he didn't remember the fight exactly he knew that the emotions and feelings would still be left with him. He had to fix this rivalry with Potter immediately. It is amazing how hostile the two had become with each other. All of it started because he had felt scorned when Potter had refused his friendship. He would not succumb to that petty anger. Never would Draco Malfoy become a groveling Death Eater. He refused to become his father.

xXxXxXx

Her schedule was starting to catch up with her. The lack of sleep hadn't bothered her, it was expected, it was the way it was affecting her school performance that was troublesome. She was still exceptional when it came to spell casting, but it was more difficult to produce a strong enough spell for it to be functional. Before she had been practicing casting the Disillusionment Charm on herself, but now it wore her out, so she would either get a teacher to cast it on her or she would go without it, being more cautious as she used her Time-Turner. Potions was more difficult than ever. They weren't the best quality even though she could still get it brewed correctly. Cutting the ingredients properly and maintaining her focus had become a chore, especially when Harry and Neville were always requiring her help with theirs.

Three weeks of school have gone by and she knew she needed a break. The first weekend in October was the first Hogsmeade visit. She would have to wait until then to relax, perhaps taking a day to just sleep. For now she had to keep going. Figuring out what spell Harry used was difficult considering she couldn't understand Parseltongue. All the books she needed to determine a spell based solely on it's effect were all checked out of the library. The Professors probably had scoured all the books needed as they were also looking for a remedy to Malfoy's situation.

Though it has been three weeks Malfoy hasn't shown any sign of gaining consciousness. None of the Professors knew what to do. The only reason Hermione knew how his condition was is because Madam Pomfrey knew of her efforts to help rid of the dark spell that inflicted the Slytherin.

She turned to another book as the one she had currently left her completely lost. The library was empty as all the students were in their classes. One of the benefits of having a Time-Turner was having the freedom to go back in time and use the library in solace. Madam Pince, as well as all the other Professors, knew that she had a Time-Turner, so it didn't faze them to see her in odd places at odd times.

While scanning the new book to determine its amount of worth she contemplated Harry's behavior. He seemed to let up a bit after that fiasco in Potions but he was still acting odd. Avoiding his friends, especially herself, wasn't something he would normally do. Several times she had seen him slip out of the dormitories during the middle of the night, doing what-she didn't know. Despite the possibility of Black being present Harry didn't seem to care much about his safety. He continued to skip classes once in a while and yell in rage at either her or Ron over little things. Ron had started backing off, getting tired of Harry's attitude, but she just grew more concerned and dedicated to finding out what was going on with her best friend.

If it wasn't for the dark spell he had used Hermione would have assumed it was a teenage phase that he was going through. Despite her dislike of Malfoy she didn't think it was right to completely incapacitate him for nearly a month. The only reason she continued this tireless research was because she had planned on confronting Harry about the fight once she found out what the spell was. She needed leverage before she could do that though, and the only way she could confront Harry and demand answers from him is if she knew exactly what he had done to Malfoy.

She slammed the book shut, another dead end. While putting the books back on the shelves, and ignoring Madam Pince's glare, she decided she would have to look in the Restricted Section. Perhaps she could 'borrow' Harry's cloak.

xXxXxXx

The Mirror of Erised showed numerous amounts of people. Not only did it show all of his family members, it showed every single person he had ever seen, whether he knew them personally or not. The numerous amounts of people mingled in a infinitely expanding room, in complete harmony with each other. Sometimes he would focus on a single person and just look at their smiles, gestures, facial expressions. He would reach out, to connect with them, only to be blocked by the glass, and the reality that what he was seeing wasn't real. Looking down at his 11-year-old body, he decided that he could sit and enjoy this harmony for many years to come. His young age would afford him this luxury, giving him plenty of time to get back to life. For now, he could just sit and look in at the harmonious world he was privileged to take part in.

Once in a while he would see Shadow lurking through the crowds, his inky presence the only thing that tainted this otherwise perfect world. The dark entity would encase its shapeless self over people at random, trying to hold their form and take their identity. Harry would only smile at Shadow's futile efforts. It was weak and unable to hold any form for long, trembling before unwinding back into a shapeless existence.

Harry awoke abruptly. He pulled back the curtains around his bed slightly, seeing if any of his roommates had been disturbed. Plopping back down on his pillow he stared at the ceiling, trying to finish waking up. Shadow had been entertaining itself with that dream since the start of the school year. Why the dark bastard decided to use the Mirror of Erised was a mystery to him. The Mirror didn't even show what he had actually seen in his first year.

Stretching, he quietly opened the curtains and rooted through his bags, looking for a Dreamless Sleep potion or a Sleeping Draught, only to discover that he was all out. He put on a robe and some slippers, gathered his bag, wand, invisibility cloak and map before heading out of the dormitory to the common room.

He had theorized that Shadow was using the Mirror in his dreams as a way to access his memories. Although he was certain, Harry thought that Shadow was trying to take form, and the only way to do so was to copy their images from his memories. Naturally, he was disturbed by this concept and had found that taking Dreamless Sleep or a Sleeping Draught would inhibit Shadows efforts. He had discovered this revelation the night after the first day of classes. Shadow didn't make an appearance the first night because he was in the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey had given him that potion. Most of the time he had been taking the Sleeping Draught, however it wasn't strong enough to keep Shadow away the whole night, it just seemed to weaken its efforts. The Dreamless Sleep, however, stopped Shadow's progress entirely because of the nature of the potion.

Distinguishing the fire, he stepped in the fireplace and tapped the back brick with his wand. Since reading the book offered to him from Dumbledore, The Magical World Around Us, he had been steadily developing his sense of magical properties. For the past week he had been wandering the castle, discovering passageways and getting a feel for how certain wards and charms felt. His sense also alerted him to the presence of others. The past two days he had felt Hermione sneaking into his dorm in the middle of the night, returning his invisibility cloak. It was out of character for Hermione to use his things without his permission, so he assumed her secrecy had something to do with him. He would have to leave that mystery for another time, there were other things that needed to be done.

He discovered this passageway behind the fireplace completely on his own. Considering the Marauder's Map didn't list it, he felt very proud of this achievement. When he figured out how to modify the Map he planned on including the certain passageways he had discovered.

Stepping out of the passageway, out of sight of the portraits, he donned his invisibility cloak and descended toward the Room of Requirement. Before he would have just used the portrait, but he has learned that all the portraits are completely loyal to the Headmaster and other Professors, and were notorious for tattle-tailing on suspicious students.

Pacing in front of the Room of Requirement, he entered a room that he was getting quite comfortable in. Inside the walls were lined with shelves, some filled with books, others with potion ingredients and empty vials. In the center of the room were four large cauldrons, a work bench on either side of each cauldron. Since the room didn't supply ingredients he had made an illegal trip to Hogsmeade. Students weren't allowed to wander the town just yet, so his presence would have been noticed immediately. Under the shelter of his invisibility cloak he wandered through the shops, gathering all items needed and leaving a pile of money on check out counter when nobody was looking. Although he didn't have a problem breaking some rules, stealing the items would have just been petty.

Setting down his bag he started up one of the cauldrons and began brewing the Sleeping Draught. It was quite simple to make. It only took half an hour and each cauldron yielded 5 doses. Dreamless was a different matter. Though it wasn't complex to make he wasn't able to yield a successful batch. He had settled with stealing from Snape's stores, but he wasn't stupid. The Professor only had two vials of the draught, so Harry could only take one of the vials and hoped that it passed by the bats notice.

Bottling up the finished Sleeping Draught he grabbed several ingredients from his shelf and a potions book and tried for the third time to make the Dreamless Sleep Potion. He was certain he could accomplish it this time, the only problem he had with the instructions was determining when to turn down the heat to give the potion the right violet color.

If Snape weren't such an ass he would have been able to do this easily. It was difficult to care about learning anything when a greasy demon was always breathing down your neck and shouting insults at you. Now that he found a use for the subject, Harry had been more focused in class and trying his best to kill his emotions whenever Snape confronted him. He was just glad that Ron wasn't in the class to make things worse. If the temperamental red-head was there he wouldn't have a chance of learning anything.

Ron had been his best friend since his first year at Hogwarts, but he had noticed that a lot of things were changing between the two of them. He wasn't sure if it was the unknown influences of Shadow on his subconscious, but he felt that he and Ron wouldn't be friends for very long. He noticed himself getting annoyed very easily by Ron. The boy just seemed dull and predictable. Harry had been glad to hear that Ron and his family were going on vacation the start of October. They had won a Ministry lottery during the summer, had their picture in the Daily Prophet and everything, but hadn't decided what to do with the money until recently. He needed the break from Ron and the time to consider that maybe they should end their friendship.

He smiled with glee when the potion was done successfully. The cauldron yielded 4 vials, so he bottled them up before looking at the clock. Two hours till breakfast. He fired up two cauldrons and began brewing the Dreamless sleep again. In an hour he will have 8 more vials with plenty of time to get back to the dorms to get ready for the day.

So far he was happy at the discoveries he has made with Shadow. The Dreamless Sleep hindered him completely through the night while the Sleeping Draught just prevented him from getting stronger. He was still researching ways to completely dispose of Shadow completely. He had come across a potion called Draught of Living Death. If he could somehow manage to make this potion or acquire it, he theorized that it would make Shadow think it was dying and would destroy the evil entity. But so far it was just a theory, and needed to look into it more before committing to a plan.

Shadow had already caused enough trouble for him. Malfoy was still unconscious and his condition unknown to the Professors. Harry had taken the liberty of also discovering what spell he had unwittingly used. Tacenda Vis is a type of primitive memory charm. It knocked the target unconscious and slowly fogged their memory of a certain type of event. While the memory was still there the spell just made it inaccessible. He guessed the reason it befuddled the professors was because it was nearly impossible to detect its presence, second it was a very old form of magic, not very favored by modern dark wizards, who preferred fast, vicious ways of disposing of their enemies and their memories. The length of its effect depended on how disciplined the targets mind was. On average it took the spell between 2-4 weeks to complete its work. The spell was considered Dark Magic because it trapped the target in their own mind until the spell was complete. Nobody knew how to reverse the effect or hinder its progress because of how undetectable it is. So as far as everyone knew, the spell was irreversible once cast.

Though he was sure the Professors wouldn't figure out the spell, he checked out all the books in the library, including the Restricted Section, that could lead to the spell that he used. He wasn't sure why he was so desperate to hide this secret. He assumed Shadow was feeding him its paranoia, but he couldn't be sure. It wasn't as if they could figure out who attacked Malfoy just by discovering what the spell was. Right? The only way Harry would be caught is if Malfoy ratted on him, but he was hopeful that the Slytherin brat wouldn't have any recollection of their fight. It would be best that way. Harry wasn't exactly happy with what he had done to Malfoy, even if he did deserve it.

Bottling up the potions into vials he cleaned out the three cauldrons he had used with a swish of his wand, grabbed his bag and cloak, and headed back to Gryffindor Tower. On his way up he could hear the sounds of students getting ready for the day. Before facing anybody, he grabbed one of the Sleeping Draughts from his robe and drank half of it. Though it made him groggy throughout the day, it did the same thing to Shadow. Harry was hoping to avoid another incident like the one in Potions. He got away with it once but he knew it wouldn't pass a second time.

xXxXxXx

"Follow me class. You will only need your wand so leave the rest of your items here."

The students murmured excitedly. Since the first day of school Professor Lupin had quickly become a favorite with the majority of the student body. The quirky teacher was always full of surprises. As they students eagerly followed, Professor Lupin explained what their lesson for today was.

"Boggarts are creatures that take on the shape of your worst fears. Since they have no other abilities to protect itself and is relatively harmless, this defense mechanism has left Boggarts hard to find, capture, and defeat."

They all filled in to a teachers lounge where, in the middle of the room, sat a chest that jumped as something within struggled to get out. Professor Lupin faced the classroom, ignoring the hysterical chest behind him.

"Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like when alone. They like to hide in dark places such as chests, wardrobes and beds. If you read your text from yesterday you will have found that Boggarts are the source of the Muggles "Boogey Man", and their childrens fears of seeing monsters under the bed."

Harry smirked at that. The muggle world was influenced by the wizarding world more than he had thought.

Professor Lupin turned toward the chest, and instructed everybody to stand back a bit furthur.

"To get a Boggart to retreat, simple point your wand at it, and say Riddikulus! While casting the charm you have to think of something to transform the Boggart into something amusing. Watch."

Lupin opened the chest with the flick of his wand. Everyone held their breathe. The chest had stilled when the Professor had opened its prison. Slowly a full moon rose out of the chest and preceded to head towards Lupin.

"Riddikulus!"

The moon halted as Lupin cast the charm. The moon turned into a whoopy cushion, flaying around the room while making very loud farting noises. The class erupted in hysterical laughter, causing the Boggart to retreat back into the chest.

The atmosphere fluctuated wildly as the students each took their turn with the Boggart. First everyone was tense with fear as multiple aspects of peoples nightmares came to life, then it would lift very suddenly as laughter broke out. Neville's encounter caused the biggest uproar as everyone was treated to the lovely view of Snape clad in his grandmothers clothing. Even a few of the Slytherins couldn't suppress a small chuckle.

Now it was Harry who faced the chest. He was conflicted on what he feared. Voldemort? Maybe. Dementor? Most definitely. What about Shadow? How would the Boggart show that? Shadow was something that was unknown to him. Did Shadow originate from him or was it something that the Dementors implanted during their attack? He knew what the answer was, but he refused to let his mind acknowledge it. Perhaps the Boggart would be able to give Shadow a form? Maybe it would help him know what Shadow was, thus giving him an idea on how he was could get rid of him.

He raised his wand as a black, inky fluid spilled out of the chest. The ink bubbled and churned, as though it were trying to figure out what it was supposed to be. Shadow moved to the front of his eyes as he stared at the Boggart.

He heard slight whisperings from the students behind him. The inky mass slowly moved toward him. Shadow was churning wildly in his vision, its excitement sending bolts of magic shooting through Harry. Professor Lupin looked at him in confusion and worry. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Before the whispers could increase as people fumbled with what they were seeing, he raised his wand and tried to verbalize the Riddikulus Charm.

He faltered as his magical floods were viciously blocked by Shadow. Shadow shouldn't be able to do that, not when he had taken the Sleeping Draught. Panicking, he forcefully said the Riddikulus incantation, trying to break through the barriers. At first he was skeptical that it would work. He had tried to break free of Shadows control before only to amuse it further. However, because of the Sleeping Draught, Shadows grip weakened and Harry's magic flowed through him, allowing the Riddikulus Charm to be successful.

The dark puddle instantly turned into smoke, fireworks that held the image of pixies burst out of the swirling clouds. The girls squealed while the boys laughed at the silliness. The Boggart retreated back into the chest as Harry retreated to the back of the classroom. Lupin was studying him and he didn't like it. The last thing he needed was another person asking him odd questions. He stayed hidden behind the students and refused to look anyone in the eye.

"Harry what was that all about? You were freaking everyone out."

Ron was being loud and not helping Harry stay inconspicuous at all. Hermione just looked at him with a studious look. At least she understood to stop bothering him. He was saved from deciding to either answer or ignore Ron when Snape's cold voice broke through the students' chatter.

"If you are quite done here, Lupin." Snape smoothly walked over to the front of the room where Lupin stood. "This lounge is a place for teachers to get away from the air-headed teenagers they teach all day, not a place to entertain them with parlor tricks."

Many students were already cramming to get out of the lounge before Snape decided to pounce on one of them. Nobody dared to complain if they didn't get a chance to face the Boggart. Harry just awed at the two Professors. He had never seen Snape so hostile toward a DADA Professor before. The over-grown bat had been more tolerant of Lockhart.

The students chattered about nonsense while waiting for the Professor to return to the classroom. Ron was distracted from his earlier questioning as he murmured and swore about Snape. Last year he would have easily joined Ron, but this year he just didn't care. So what if Snape was an ass? Aren't there plenty of others just as cruel in the world?

While Hermione nagged Ron about respecting his teachers Harry reached into his bag and drank the other half of his Sleeping Draught. The potion he had taken earlier wore off during his struggle with Shadow while facing the Boggart. Though Shadow had retreated after defeating the Boggart, Harry could still hear it raging in his mind in frustration. It gave him the biggest headache.

"Alright class, settle down." Professor Lupin strode into the room, sitting on his desk, while waiting to have silence. "Everyone did very well today. If you didn't get a chance to face the Boggart then I encourage you to return here during lunch so you can have a go at it."

He waved his wand at the chalkboard behind him, their assignment displayed for all to copy down.

"Chapter 4 is about disarming wards and environmental charms. Please remember to read all of it as we will be spending the majority of class practicing the incantations to disarm them. Everyone is dismissed."

Harry grabbed his bag and hurriedly pushed himself in the middle of students heading out the door. Lupin had been looking at him since entering the classroom. This wasn't good. He had to try to avoid being alone around the Professor as soon as possible. He didn't like how protective Lupin was over him. He didn't even know the man.

"Harry, could you please stay after for a moment?" The request was voiced loud enough for Harry to hear but quiet enough to draw everyone's attention.

Harry swore under his breath. Just what he needed. He ducked down slightly and pointed his wand down at the floor. Different colors of fog swirled around the ankles of the students, causing some to freak and others to laugh in enjoyment as the fog riddled their clothes with colored powder. During the slight distraction he pushed himself into the hall and dashed down the corridor. He hoped Lupin had been too distracted by that little prank to notice him dashing from the classroom as fast as possible.

He stopped behind a large statue of a witch out in the courtyard. There weren't many people nearby and his Herbology class didn't start for another few minutes. He reached in his bag and opened another vial of Sleeping Draught. Draining half of it, he grew irritated. His body was already getting used to the potion. Doing any type of magic consumed the effects of the potion fairly quickly. Every time it wore off Shadow would ransack his mind, trying to finish its work it had only been able to do during the night while Harry slept. Finding a form for itself worried Harry even though he didn't understand it. Shadow was in his mind, how would finding a form change its situation at all? Harry doubted that Shadow would be able to jump out of his eye sockets once it became something.

He ran and caught up with Neville and Parkinson as they headed to the green house. Shadow had once again retreated and settled down in the back of his mind. The Sleeping Draught weakening it for know.