This time it is Potter and he who knock on Snape's door. Dubhán looks nervously at Potter's profile as they wait in front of the door. He expects Snape won't be at all pleased to see the man, especially since he won't be expecting him. Alexandra had brought him the last four times, but she had gotten called into work.
"Come in," drawls the professor. Potter opens the door and Dubhán purposely trails slowly behind him; he wants to put some space between Potter's unwanted face and his merely-tolerated one. "Potter…" The one word seems to sum up Snape's feelings entirely too well for Dubhán's comfort.
"Hello, Severus." Snape's eyes narrow.
"I have asked you, time and again, Potter, for you to call me Snape."
"Yeah, you have," Potter says, shrugging, "But you're not my professor anymore and besides, I try to make a point to you that I don't have a grudge anymore…"
"If that were true, Potter, then you would follow my simple request, unless you are merely unable to follow any directions at all…"
"I'm plenty able to follow directions that have a purpose, Severus." Potter says, his voice calm and almost cheery. Snape scowls.
"Stop pretending to be Albus, Potter. It doesn't suit you." And then those endless black orbs are turning to him. Subconsciously Dubhán inches away from Potter, as if to say 'remember I'm not him'.
"You have managed, Devlin, to construct an adequate wall, but it has not proven strong enough to hold up to pressure on my end. Therefore, we will no longer be playing 'fairly'. I will attack your mind without counting down and you will do whatever you can to get rid of me. I would prefer you got rid of me with your mind, but it is acceptable to do anything." He looks him up and down. "Of course, that won't be very much, considering you are eight and unarmed. I will not stop until you stop me, do you understand?"
Dubhán swallows hard. Anxiously he rubs his hands on his thighs, checking to see if he'd packed his wand. He had. Worst come to worst, he could reveal he wasn't unarmed. He nods.
"What about my wolf?"
"I will count that as the anything but not preferable category." Dubhán nods. He looks at Potter, whose sitting right next to them, unlike his Mum does. "Mum doesn't sit there," he says softly to Potter, trying to be discrete. Potter looks up so sharply that Dubhán expects him to begin yelling in argument.
"What did you say?"
"She doesn't sit there…can't you…sit in the corner like she does?" Potter is grinning ear-to-ear and Dubhán wonders what has gotten into him.
"Yeah, alright." And he gets up and moves into the corner. "Do I at least get to watch?" He asks sarcastically. Dubhán gives him a significant look and Potter begins grinning again. "Okay, okay, I'll shut up." Dubhán sighs in relief.
Dubhán has barely turned his head around to face Snape when it happens. "Legilimenecy".
"You have to focus!" Comes a cold hard voice. It sounds bored. "You have to feelthe magic in you; feel it seeping from your fingers and out into the world to do your bidding.' He feels himself swallow hard. There are dark green eyes regarding him from a corner of the tent.
"Wingardium Leviosa." He tries hard not to fumble the words and focuses all his attention on the feather in front of him. He has to make it float. He can't be weak. He shuts his eyes and tries to simply pretend it is in the air. When he opens his eyes he grins and jumps into the air, joining his feather for the briefest of moments. He spins around to look at the man in the corner. "I did it! I did it Grandfather." The green eyes stay perfectly neutral.
"It is only a feather, Dubhán," Voldemort says, dismissively. "Surely you did not expect that you were incapable of lifting a simple feather wandlessly?" His chest falls. He had felt, for a moment, that he had finally proven himself as something. He spins around and glares at the feather.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" He says firmly, focusing on a book that the teacher had set on a table. It rises in the air. "Wingardium Leviosa!" And now a chair is in the air. "Wingardium Leviosa!" And now four books are floating. He's angry and frustrated and it's making it easier to pull his magic to the surface. Perhaps if he could make every single thing in the room float, Voldemort would be happy!
But no, he could never make him happy enough, and it was stupidto think about it too much…he shoves the ideas away from himself and, in doing so, shoves Snape out of his mind too.
He's on the ground, on his knees. Around the room, potion jars are floating in midair. Snape is glaring at all of the potion jars. Potter is looking awed.
"If you could simply control your mind as well as you control your magic, Devlin, then maybe we'd be progressing." He's sneering. "Now put my things back immediately." Dubhán looks around him and notices the desks are floating too. He gulps and waves his hand: the jars reseat themselves on their shelves, the desks land gently on the stone floor, the couple chairs fall to the ground and reseat themselves under their desk.
"Sorry, sir," Dubhán mumbles.
"You should try and figure out why you can manage enough focus to do that but not Occlumency!" Snape says scathingly.
"But, sir…that's nothing special. Occlumency is a difficult art to master and…I may simply not be good enough at it…"
"Dubhán, that wasn't-" Snape sends a glare at Potter, who dared to open his mouth and speak.
"Thank you Mr. Potter, but I am currently teaching your son. Your only job is to make sure I do not kill him, as you obviously think I might, considering your presence. You are not to speak." Potter glares and looks impatiently at Snape. Snape is looking at Dubhán now, who isn't sure he likes the thoughtful expression on his face.
"In all honesty I believe your problem lies far from yourself and your abilities. You do not wear your emotions on your sleeve like your father. You are trying, unlike your father. Your mother is capable of Occlumency. However your mind does not innately resist me. You command it to resist, certainly, but it is used to being invaded and so, in the end, it submits. The Dark Lord has been using Legilimenecy on you for so long that you have simply stopped reacting. You reacted to me in the beginning, I believe, simply because I was different from The Dark Lord, but you did not continue to fight me."
"But how do I fix that, sir?"
"There are going to be two changes in the way we play this game, Mr. Potter." Dubhán doesn't like his tone of voice. "First of all," he says, touching one of his fingers to indicate 'one', "I am no longer going to just attack what is at the surface of your mind and two," another finger is bent backwards, "I will no longer promise to keep what I see, secret. You have to fear me being in your mind, and since that was your one request, not respecting it should make you fear me invading your thoughts." Dubhán backs away from the man.
"You can't do that. There are things I-"
"Then, Mr. Potter, protect them! Legilimenecy!"
Dubhán's mind recognizes Snapes presence immediately. The memory of his words haunt him and his mind throws them around. 'I will no longer promise to keep what I see, secret'. The neurons in his brain fire one after the other, trying to communicate the desperate news. For a moment it almost feels like a seizure is about to begin, but then he realizes it's just the anxiety and desperation making him shake.
"Geoffrey?"
"Hmm?"
"If everyone takes Wolfbanes, how come we always get locked in?"
"Because even a dosed werewolf can hurt if they want to."
It's such an unimportant memory and Dubhán can see Snape frowning.
"I dreamed about the lady again…"
"I see…"
"She was singing…"
Dubhán shakes his head and the room sways at the motion.
"Grandfather, come see this!" And he's pulling the man into his bedroom and pointing at the ceiling. "I made the book page go onto the ceiling and made everything colorful!" Up on his ceiling is the night sky and it is revolving and sparkling and so beautiful. And his Grandfather's face is actually smiling.
Snape is still frowning, the lines getting deeper and deeper. Then several things occur to him: Snape's frown, the room swaying, and his own shaking. He can still hear, feel and see! He clenches his jaw. But Snape is pushing more and more, coming closer and closer to his secrets and it is getting harder to hide them from him and he knows soon he will see her.
"No," he whispers, his voice so soft he barely believes he's said it except that his jaw moved. "I won't let you tell him." He ties to remember what it felt like to cast the charm on that feather and imagines casting it in his mind, making Snape float away from his thoughts. He closes his eyes and distantly realizes when he falls down and curls up on the stone floor. Snape is pushing relentlessly. He pushes back with his wind, fast and faster until his head is pounding and he can't think of anything else. And then Potter is next to him and there is a wet towel on his head and Snape is sitting down on a chair near by. He raises his head and get to his knees; sure he has failed.
"I can do better, I swear." Once more, he gets to his feet. Once more he straightens himself out. Once more he tries to look stronger than he feels.
"We're done, Devlin. I'm done."
"But I can do it! I promise. Please give me another chance." Snape looks at him sharply.
"I know you can do it, you stupid child. I am done because I need to stop. I did not stop until you stopped me and it took a good forty minutes for you to stop me." Realization dawns in Dubhán's eyes and he begins to smile.
"I stopped you?" Snape nods grudgingly.
"I suppose your mind cannot be completely empty, for you to protect it as you did." Snape is looking like he is torn between hatred and concern but at that moment Dubhán doesn't care. His mind is his own. He did it.
Hope you liked this chapter. I think I did a better job this time. :)
Please review! Please Review!
The next chapter, which will jump time a little, will really start us moving on in the story. Soon we'll be seeing Draco Malfoy (if you remember he has a book for Devlin), learning more about 'her' (any guesses anyone?) and seeing some more positive Harry/Devlin interactions. :)