Title: Kiss.

Author: AspergianStoryteller.

Genre: Supernatural/General.

Summary: When a dementor tried to Kiss Harry Potter, it got more than it bargained for. And Harry did not walk away unaffected. Don't own Harry Potter.

I am so sorry for my stuff up! I've made sure I put French into the translator this time instead of Latin. Thank you readers for pointing that out!

Chapter 34: And Action Sunday.

Flick! Snape was faster. He wordlessly, effortlessly sent Harry's wand flying. Harry panicked and pushed at Snape with both hands, dropping his tweezers. They landed on Snape's foot. He wasn't strong enough to push his angry teacher far, and Snape's dragonhide boots were tough, but he was deterred for a couple of seconds.

In those couple of seconds, Harry slipped on the wet floor and tumbled past the steel props holding the basilisk's mouth open.

Severus stepped forward and froze. Potter toppled into monster's mouth before his very eyes.

Fuck!

'Don't move!' he shouted. 'Don't touch anything!' Dammit, he hadn't noticed how close to the head they were in his angry pursuit of Potter. Normally he wouldn't allow the trouble-attracting boy near the mouth still half full of sharp, poisonous teeth as long as his arm! And now he'd gone and fallen right into it!

'Are you alright, Potter?' he demanded. 'Have you touched a tooth?'

'Um, no. No sir.' the boy answered shakily.

Okay, stay calm. Think.

'Stay absolutely still unless I tell you to move,' he ordered. 'I'm going to take a look.'

'Mm hm,' Harry mumbled, fighting the urge to scrambled out by himself. Oh god. To think, the basilisk had tried to eat him alive before Harry killed it and now, well after its death, here he was in its mouth! Maybe he'd laugh about the irony later.

He carefully turned his head to check out his new surroundings, lit with the torch light from outside. He'd fallen in from the side; His left arm was flung out in the direction of the throat – a throat large enough for his whole body to slither down in one swallow, Harry noticed.

His right arm pointed towards the basilisk's open mouth and his body was sprawled over its long, forked tongue. The roof curved three of four heads above him. The mouth was mostly empty, the space meant for swallowing large prey. And the whole place stank of rotting meat, mould and something really, really sweet, like that colossal mixed mess of sugar, toffee, caramel and a dozen other lollies Dudley had made himself sick with when he was nine.

Long fangs and steel supports prying the jaws apart cast long shadows on Harry. He watched Snape prowl around the basilisk's head, peering in checking where all of its teeth were. Harry did more checking of his own – and couldn't stop a squeak when he found three teeth very close to him.

'Potter!' Snape barked. 'What happened? Did you cut yourself?'

'No sir,' Harry said, embarrassed at himself. 'I just found a few fangs rather close to myself.'

'Where?'

'Well, there's one by my head. On the left side.'

Snape bent down and looked in. 'And the others?' he asked.

'There's another one nearly right above my head,' he said, carefully glancing up. 'A head or two above me and yeah, that one,' he confirmed. Snape found it.

'And the third, Potter?'

'Laying by my side,' Harry looked at the great fang nearly the size of his whole arm. Last week it had taken Snape half an hour to pull that one free, and he'd left it behind because their box wasn't big enough and he wouldn't risk shrinking it.

Snape continued to take mental notes for a minute, then said,

'I'm going to take the long tooth and see if vanishing it is safe. Stay still.' He carefully pulled it out and took it away to test. While he waited, Harry kept searching for every remaining tooth and tired not to look down the chasm and imagine something lunging or slithering out to snatch him. He noticed, to his horror, that the stiff flesh he lay upon was at a slight incline. If he rolled over, he might easily slide down the rest of the basilisk's tongue into its throat... That train of thought had to stop there. Harry attempted to distract himself. How about that forked tongue, uh? How could he, a human speak Snake if his tongue wasn't forked? Did that only happen when he spoke Parsletongue? Surely he would feel it, but then again, he didn't really notice when he spoke it, did he? It sounded like English to him unless he was aware it wasn't really English. Harry decided to test this by concentrating on the snake surrounding him and speaking, paying attention to his tongue.

Severus was disappointed to lose such a big tooth, but it had to be done. They didn't have Fawkes with them; one tiny scratch and Potter would die very quickly. He walked back to the basilisk.

'Shhhhhsssssss, shhhhhsssssss...'

He froze.

'Sshaaaah ssss hassssss...'

He shivered. Oh Merlin, that sound. It was so eerie! Fascinating, yes. Intriguing, mysterious and alluring, but quite creepy too. Why was Potter speaking Parsletongue?

'Potter. Do show some manners and speak English.'

'Ah, professsor? Did it work?' Potter switched back to Human-English immediately, except for one slight hiss.

'It did. Why were you speaking Parsletongue, Potter?' he asked. 'It's not as though the snake can hear you, much less reply.'

'Oh, I um, wanted to test something,' Potter mumbled, sounding embarrassed.

'You better not have been attempting Parslemagic without supervision.'

'It wasn't that – wait, Parslemagic? What's that?'

Severus mentally groaned. Oh crap. Now he'd gone and put an idea in Potter's head – wait. Actually, this could be interesting.

'Parslemagic: spells incanted using Parsletongue, Potter. The name is obvious.' Ah, insulting the brat was a familiar blessing.

'Okay then,' the brat muttered sarcastically. 'Just how am I supposed to do that? I don't know any Parslemagic spells. The only other Parslemouth I know of is Voldemort. Should I ask him to teach me?'

God no!

'Five points from Gryffindor,' Severus snapped. Then silencing Potter's protest he carried on,

'I imagine a magical species of snake might be able to impart spells. Of course, you would practise them under adult supervision and swear not to use them for troublemaking.' Beside the frightening mental image of the Dark Lord tutoring Potter, the boy using rare, powerful magic most humans couldn't do for mischief gave Severus the shivers.

'Really?' Potter asked, interested. He was probably cooking up pranks now.

'Maybe.'

'Cool. This could really give me a hand in the Tournament. Well, other people might freak out, but I could say it quietly,' he mumbled.

'What were you saying before?' Severus brought their previous topic back.

'I was just saying, "Test, test. Is my tongue..."' he halted, embarrassment coming back.

'What were you testing?'

'Um, hey sir. When you speak Mermish, since it's not a human language, does your tongue change shape?'

'No, it's simply-' Ah, was that it? 'When speaking Mermish, the human tongue does go through some complex movement, but it does not actually change in anyway.'

'Oh. I was just wondering how...'

'How your tongue speaks the serpent language? I can check when you come out.' Not that he fancied getting a close up of Potter's mouth, but he had wondered if the Dark Lord's tongue was snakelike to match the rest of him, and watching the boy's tongue was likely the closest he'd get.

'Now Potter, stay still while I vanish the necessary teeth, or you might find yourself with something missing.'

'Evanesco.'

Thankfully he only needed to vanish four teeth to make it safe for Potter.

'Reach out your hands and I'll pull you out.' Potter stuck out his arms and allowed Severus to pull him half way out before standing up himself.

'Thanks, professor. Ugh.' He noticed the dark slime coating his back and arms. Severus vanished that too, because he didn't like the smell.

'If you are unharmed, Potter, speak Parsletongue again and I shall see if anything happens to your tongue.' He really was curious.

'Okay. Um.' Potter fixed his eyes upon the basilisk and began to speak. 'Sshaaaah ssss hassssss sschessss? Ssaaah Assss ssss hoorisss.'

Potter's pink tongue wriggled like a snake tongue, shaping some sounds like they were foreign words. It didn't literally turn forked.

'What did you say this time?'

'"Is my tongue changing? Teacher Severe is curious."' He blinked, surprised. So did Severus.

'I guess it translates like that... So. Shall we get back to pulling scales?'

Severus blinked again.

'Yes. There is still time left.' They returned to their previous task as though the incident hadn't happened, except that he kept a closer eye on Potter, and the boy twitched whenever Severus' hand went into his pocket. That was funny. Severus did it several times to amuse himself.

Wait – now he remembered! He'd been set to interrogate the lying brat about the gillyweed! But that could wait until he was in a calm temper, and a much safer setting.

'Time to go, Potter.'

Severus packed up and waited as Potter put his tweezers away and was shocked when the boy suddenly swayed and collapsed. Shit! he thought, catching him. He'd gone and cut himself on a tooth! Where? Maybe he could extract the venom. Severus quickly lowered Potter to the floor and pushed his big rolled up sleeves back. Nothing.

No scratches or bleeding on his skinny, knobbly arms. Oh good. Severus/Harry hadn't enjoyed his first time being bitten by the basilisk – Merlin that was scary and painful – and they didn't have Fawkes to save them now. Wait. When had he been bitten? When he was twelve, of course. Less than two/about twenty two years ago. What?

Severus/Harry was confused. Who was he? He was Severus Snape/Harry Potter. Potions teacher, Slytherin/student, Gryffindor. Former Death Eater/Boy-Who-Lived/spy/seeker/Lilly/Mum/Potter/Dad/Marauders/Sirius, Professor Lupin, Dudley, Harry-Hunting/Ron, Hermione/Spinner's End/Private Drive, cupboard/Wool's Orphanage/Hogwarts/Dungeon/Tower/Chamber/Dark Lord/Voldemort/ Argh! What the hell?

He looked his arms, robed in black. Severus'/Snape's/his/their arms. This body was Severus Snape. That body in front of him was Harry Potter. Wearing baggy old muggle sweater and jeans. His eyes were green and half open. Empty. Empty?

He looked into them and looked deeper. Oh Merlin. They were empty. Where there should be a cloud of thoughts there was empty space. How disturbing. It was like he'd legilimensed a Kissed person. Wasn't that what he was doing now? He'd been Kissed once.

Harry blinked.

'Whoa! Professor!' What the hell? He shuffled away from Snape's face looming too close for comfort.

Snape reared back.

'Potter? You're – what was that?' he demanded. His face was pale and his eyes were wide. He shook his head.

'I don't – oh. I – um. I had another out-of-body-experience. This happened with me and Moaning Myrtle once.'

Snape's mouth hung open in shock. 'You had an out-of-body-experience?'

Harry nodded.

'Yeah. It happened in the lake too. I can't control it yet.' He ran his hand through his hair and tugged on it. The sting relieved some of the shock. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He like, fused with Snape or something! He didn't know which of them he was; he had both of their identities, all their memories, in those brief moments they inhabited one body together. Just like with Myrtle, except she was a ghost, which felt slightly different. Open air instead of a fleshy cover.

Snape got up and paced, fingering his own, greasy hair.

'Then you must learn to control it as soon as possible,' he said. 'Today or tomorrow latest. It cannot go unchecked.'

Harry agreed. Spacing out every day was one thing, but actually collapsing was just too much. And God forbid he go into someone again. People would find out what happened and freak out, and visions of being prodded by wizards in white robes filled Harry's head.

He pulled his hair again.

'Rather than make your disgraceful hair even more of a mess,' muttered Snape, noticing, 'attempt to tidy it or take your hands out.'

Harry stood up and dry-charmed himself. Attempt was futile. Mrs Weasley had tried. It would take as much Sleekeazy's hair potion as Hermione used for the Yule Ball to make his hair lay neat and flat. But then it would be as greasy as Snape's. Maybe he could grow it longer and tie it back? It was nearly long enough for that.

He glanced at Snape; still pacing. The man was pale from shock, but Harry's own face was pink. Sharing a body like they had, being so close; it was very intimate. Harry shuddered. Intimate. What a terrible word to have between them. How awkward. Thank goodness Snape didn't have a girlfriend or something – Harry would have to obliviate himself.

'Professor,' he asked before he could stop himself, 'did you know my mum?'

Snape stiffened.

'What did you say?' he asked back. His voice was a whisper, tight. Harry hesitated. He hadn't meant to blurt that out.

'Um, did you – did you know my mum?' he ended on a squeak.

'We were in school at the same time,' Snape said quietly. When they thought of her, Lily Potter, she was Harry's mum; safe, loving, screaming and a photo. She was also Lily Evans; girl, fun, clever and friend. The first emotions attached to her reminded Harry of his feelings about Ron and Hermione. The brief feelings of jealousy, bitterness and despair made Harry suspect there was more to it than being students at the same time. The guilt, regret and crushing sorrow scared Harry, for could have happened to make someone like Snape feel like that?

He'd only had a brief glimpse, but from it Harry learned more about his teacher than he had from more than four years of knowing him. A cocktail of emotion made Harry want to lay back down on the cold, damp chamber floor again to calm down.

'Don't question me about what you saw,' Snape continued. 'Don't tell anyone what you saw. Remember, I saw you, too.'

Shit. Harry really hoped Snape hadn't seen Dark magic practise.

'Yes, sir.' Snape needed time to calm down too. If he'd seen anything that could get Harry into trouble, it would have to wait, Harry thought.

After another minute, Snape told Harry to get moving and they left the Chamber. Quickly.

Snape stalked off the moment the Chamber entrance closed, looking ready to crash in his rooms or brace himself with a strong drink. Myrtle wasn't around, so Harry slipped into a cubical and sat down on a toilet to steady himself. He knew he should write to Sirius about this, and tell Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, but all that could wait. Merlin, he was freaked out. Harry was horrified when his eyes started watering. It had to be Snape's fault. Or maybe it was just a leak. This bathroom was often wet.

How come even a git like Snape got nice memories of Harry's mum and all Harry had was her last moments? He took a deep, shaky breath.

Shit happened. Snape went to to school with her; of course he would remember more. And they'd been friends or something, Harry was sure. His head felt swollen and he thoughts were racing and bumping and crashing, but he knew that. It was something they actually had in common then, missing Lily. Even if Snape's missing was so much fiercer and guilty. Why guilty? Harry wondered again. Why was Snape suddenly tangled in another mystery?

Harry eventually left the bathroom and wandered around a quiet part of the castle. He'd have gone flying, but students weren't supposed to fly alone, and considering his out-of-body experiences lately it was better not to go up.

He didn't see Ron and Hermione until lunch and quietly told them about the merpeople's visit ('It'd be great if the squid ate him...' Ron half-joked. Harry said it wouldn't dare, or it would spit him out.) and the incident with the basilisk.

Ron made a choking sound that could have been horror or a shocked laugh.

'Seriously? You know Harry, that's almost funny how a snake you killed nearly got you after you killed it.'

'Yeah, almost,' Harry nibbled a pear half-heartedly. 'Not that I could really appreciate that with all those teeth still in there.'

Ron shuddered.

'Are you alright?' Hermione asked. She put grapes on the boys' plates. 'You look shaken. And you've barely touched your food.'

'Something weird happened,' Harry said, hesitantly. 'Weirder than the other stuff,' he added. 'I had another out-of-body experience... And I sort of drifted into Snape.'

Ron did choke this time and Hermione dropped her knife.

'What?'

'Shh! You heard me. It was really weird and creepy and confusing, but I don't really feel up to talking about it just yet.'

His friends looked at him with wide eyes and open mouths.

'Really. I will later, but right now I'm still trying to sort out my own thoughts.'

Hermione pulled her jaw up and picked up her knife.

'Alright,' she said, buttering her bread again, 'but have you told a teacher yet? Professor-'

'When lunch is done,' Harry said. 'If Snape hasn't already. He might still be in his office. He looked hammered.'

After lunch, Harry approached Dumbledore as he was leaving the Great Hall and told him what had happened earlier.

'Professor Snape has told me what occurred this morning,' the headmaster said. 'Thank you for bringing me your version.' A concerned look crossed his face. 'Since your condition has gotten more serious, Harry, I believe it's time you learnt to control it. We are fortunate that Professor Trelawney is an experienced out-of-body traveller.'

Harry, Ron and Hermione shared a look of raised eyebrows.

Dumbledore chuckled.

'Usually, out-of-body travel is not taught, or rather, attempted until sixth year, but since it has started happening to you now, fully...'

'When do I start?' Harry asked, sighing. There went more of his increasingly diminished free time. Ugh, more Trelawney-time.

'Professor Trelawney has been away at a seers' convention this week and returns tomorrow afternoon. Shortly before dinner would be a good time to visit her in her tower.'

Harry nodded.

'Okay.' He heard Hermione and Ron sigh.

'In the meantime,' Dumbledore added, 'I wonder if you stay in the hospital wing or your dormitory, in case of another episode?'

'Ah, no! I'll be fine!' Harry put his hands up. 'It won't happen again so soon, and Ron and Hermione will be with me if anything does happen.' Not the hospital again; he'd only just gotten out!

'Yeah, professor,' Ron affirmed. 'We'll keep an eye on him.'

To Harry's relief, Dumbledore didn't insist upon it and left before Hermione could make up her mind on whether Harry should be hospitalised. If it had been McGonagall or Snape, Harry would have been escorted there immediately.

XXX xxx XXX

'Désolé, mon accent est merdique.'

'Non, non. Il ne s'agit pas.' Fleur waved her hands. 'Accent ajoute de la saveur à la parole.'

Each of the four champions, Harry realised, was bi-lingual at least, listening to Fleur and Cedric converse in French. Viktor spoke both Bulgarian and Enlgish and he, Harry spoke English and Parsletongue.

The four of them were all seated around the coffee table with hot chocolate and ginger newts. Fleur and Cedric were practising their foreign language skills together.

'Viktor,' Fleur addressed the Durmstrang boy, 'do you speak French?'

'A little,' he answered. 'Je parle peu le français.'

Fleur beamed.

'And you, 'Arry?'

'Just, bonjour,' Harry mumbled, feeling ignorant.

'Just bonjour?' Fleur echoed. 'I will teach you more! French eez one of ze most gorgeous tongues een ze world.' Harry didn't doubt this; Fleur's accent sounded great.

'You too, Viktor. Listen carefully.' Viktor blinked.

'Bonjour, mon nom est ...'

The three boys copied her words. Cedric sounded the most confident, having taken French class since his first year. Viktor sounded Bulgarian, as usual. Harry reckoned he'd pick it up easier than English though; English was supposed to be a really difficult language.

'Bonjour, mon nom est ...' Fleur repeated. ''Ello, my name eez...'

'Bonjour, mon nom est ...' Harry winced hearing his voice go up and down in pitch. It started this morning. On one hand Harry was glad, because for two months now he was the only boy in his dorm room who's voice hadn't broken yet. On the other hand, it was really embarrassing when his voice frequently alternated between twelve-year-old girl and young man.

Cedric smiled.

'Is your voice breaking, Harry?' he asked.

Harry nodded, red faced.

'Don't worry about it. It'll be over before you know it,' he said, sagely. 'In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy listening.' His smile stretched into a grin.

'Bonjour, mon nom est, 'Arry,' Fleur said. She was smiling too. 'Come on.'

'Bonjour, mon nom est ... Cedric/Viktor/Harry.'

Five minutes later they were learning to say 'Je viens d'Angleterre/de Bulgarie. Mon école est Hogwarts/Durmstrang. ' I come from England/Bulgaria. My school is Hogwarts/Durmstrang.

Hogwarts. Castle. Corridors, towers, stairs. Halls and dungeons. Greenhouses, forest and fields. Gryffindor Tower. Harry wanted to go there after tea and take a nice nap in his bed. Hogwarts beds were so warm and cosy, like little cocoons when the curtains were closed.

Thump.

Before Cedric's eyes, Harry very suddenly slumped in his armchair and spilled onto the classroom floor.

'Bugger, Harry? Harry, are you okay?' he moved to kneel at the younger boy's side and shook his shoulder.

'What eez wrong?' Fleur asked. 'Eez 'e 'urt?'

Cedric cast a basic diagnostic charm.

'I don't think so. Harry's got this condition similar to epilepsy. He has these blackouts sometimes.' Cedric nudged Harry into the appropriate recovery position. 'But they must have gotten worse. He didn't used to collapse.'

Fleur and Viktor were on their feet.

'I will get ze 'ealer,' Fleur walked quickly to the door but Cedric stopped her.

'It's faster if I go,' he said. 'I've been visiting the hospital wing for years.'

... Like little cocoons when the curtains were closed. Kind of like his old cupboard, but bigger and more comfortable. When it was dark and cosy he could entertain himself by dreaming of fantastic new words and epic adventures. Small dark space grew big and filled with-

Splash!

Water?

''Arry? Arry? Can you 'ear me?'

'I can 'ear you,' Harry muttered, unconsciously imitating her accent perfectly. 'What's up?' Why was he on the floor in recovery position?

'You fainted.'

'Huh?' Harry sat up and Fleur and Viktor moved back. Fleur had her wand out. She must have spelled the water onto his face.

'You fainted,' Fleur repeated. 'Quite suddenly. Are you alright?'

'Yeah. I'm fine,' Harry wiped his face dry in his jacket sleeve. 'Where's Cedric gone?'

'He vent to get ze healer,' Viktor informed him.

'Ah.' Harry stood up. 'Great.'

'Maybe you should zit down,' Fleur suggested.

'I don't need to sit down. It didn't help before.' Harry walked briskly to a wall and leaned against it. His face burned.

Fleur handed him a ginger newt.

'Thanks.'

'Cedric informed us zat you are ill,' she put out. 'What do we need to know about eet?'

Once again, Harry explained the not-quite-full reason for his random blackout. The older students listened with serious expressions and scowled when he mentioned the dementors.

'What foul creatures,' Fleur shuddered. 'We do not employ zeir services in France.'

'What do you do with criminals in France?' Harry asked, licked ginger crumbs from his finger tips.

'Zey are detained wissout zeir wands,' she said. 'And zey serve ze people until zeir time is over.'

'It is ze same in Bulgaria,' Viktor added. 'And, if it is safe, zey vork for ze muggles, too.' He leaned next to Harry on the wall.

'Oh. Community service. That sounds okay.'

'Better zan Britain's barbarian torture,' the French girl sniffed. 'But back to you. Eez zere anysing zat starts your fits? Do you 'ave a medicine for eet?'

'They're not fits exactly,' Harry said, hoping he hadn't done any spasming. At least he hadn't gone out of his body this time. Why was that anyway? 'I'm not sure what sets them off; they're normally just random. And I do have some meds for it. But I have to learn how to control it.

'You guys won't tell anyone about this will you?' Argh! Bloody voice break!

'Why not?' asked Fleur. 'Eet eez safer eef other people know. What eef you collapse again?'

'I- well,' Harry chewed his lip. 'It's embarrassing because, well you know about me, right? The thing with the killing curse and Voldemort?' The older students affirmed this and their eyes darkened. Harry wondered how Voldemort's siege of terror had affected other countries.

'I'm kind of famous because of it-'

Fleur rolled her eyes and Viktor snorted.

'-and I don't want people to make a big deal of it. If you've read the Daily Prophet this year or heard some of the rumours you'll get the idea.'

Viktor shifted, and Harry knew he knew the feeling.

'I'm back,' Cedric stepped in. 'Harry, you're up. You feeling better?'

Madam Pomfrey was in right after him, wand already out.

'Afternoon, Mr Potter. Why didn't you come to me earlier?'

XXX xxx XXX

Translations:

'Sorry, my accent is crap.' -Cedric.

'No, no. It's not. Accents add flavour to speech.' -Fleur.

'I speak little French.' -Viktor.

'Hello, my name is...' -Fleur.

Silly, fun things like House competitions have a purpose too. Besides entertainment, I mean. :)

Hey, has my writing changed or improved since chapter 1?

My area had a karate (Seido-Sincere and Honest Way) grading today. If I grade, I'll become a blue belt. Wish me luck? Also today in my area is a rugby match between the Crusaders and the Sharks. Think I like martial arts more, but go team anyway.