I am much better now! Hope you all continue to enjoy this :D

Harry was panting and again on the floor in Snape's classroom. His scar was burning and his head throbbing and he could barely breathe.

Snape was staring down at him in silence, apparently too stunned or too angry at what he'd discovered to speak. Several minutes passed before Harry pulled himself upright into his chair and sat there, trying to regulate his breathing.

"You..." Snape was breathing very shallowly at this point and Harry's headache intensified. "There is so much to say about that I...how can you have told Theodore so much, Potter?"

"I didn't think about it."

"He knows now at least half of the members of the Order! And that you believe adamantly that I am a spy for your side!"

"I'm sorry, okay!" Harry straightened and glowered at the man.

"Perhaps you simply do not take this seriously." Snape drawled, his anger dissipating abruptly and his features becoming cold and collected. "Perhaps you see it as a game."

"I know this isn't a game!" Harry flew to his feet.

"You should check your anger." Snape's lip curled. "After all, these lessons are about Occlumency and Occlumency demands control over your emotions."

"And you expect me to keep control when you are...assuming I am not taking You-Know-Who seriously?"

"Yes." Snape's voice had become quieter.

Harry glared at the man for a long moment before his brain finally digested what he'd seen. Snape was angry...furious...and yet he wasn't shouting anymore. Instead his voice had become lower, quieter, and seemed all the more dangerous than it had been. The man was rigid, but had not thrown himself into rage. Despite how incensed he was, Snape maintained control, but there was a technique.

Trying to quell the trembles of ire coursing across his body, Harry spoke again, his voice softer, "There has to be a...method to the madness."

"You're figuring it out just fine." Snape took a seat across from Harry. "I will be reporting my findings."

"Fine." Harry felt his body relaxing finally and he retook his seat. The tremors were gone and his jaw had finally stopped grinding his teeth together.

"Now, about what you were trying to do in my memory..."

"I don't want to talk about it." Harry hissed, almost in Parseltongue.

"We are talking about it." Snape's tone left no room for argument. "Calling your own father a 'monster' isn't going to sit well with any of the Order."

"He was though, wasn't he?" Harry scowled at his Professor. "You hated him for it too."

"Your father had an extreme like for bullying." Snape didn't seem like he wanted to have this conversation any more than Harry did. "And he did make my stay here at Hogwarts unpleasant, but he was still apart of the Order and he was your father."

"I don't want to recognize that as my father! He was a bully! And my own mother hated him! How they ended up married is beyond me! For all I know, he forced her!"

"He did not force your mother!" Snape barked back. "Control your anger!"

"Control your own!"

Snape rose and Harry did the same. They glared fiercely at each other as Snape spoke in a low voice, "Your father was only fifteen at the time, as was I..."

"I'm fifteen!" Harry shouted.

"Control your anger." Snape's voice had dropped again, but he continued before Harry could speak. "Your father and I hated each other from the moment we met, much like you and Weasley. Both of us know, however, that Weasley is not evil, no matter how much he picks on you. He would never join the Dark Lord and your Father was much the same."

"Both of them attack us for no reason." Harry was shaking again, but he had managed to keep his voice down. "And it was all because others were bored. I've heard Seamus. He would get bored and the next thing I know I'm getting hexed left and right. It was the same for you. Sirius would get bored and you would get hexed left and right too. Both of us reach instinctively for our wands when we hear the pack leader's voice."

"Your father was arrogant and an idiot. You are more like your mother."

"She stopped being your friend." Harry mumbled.

"I insulted her."

"You're a Slytherin! Of course, you insulted her!"

Snape snorted lightly. "And she was a Gryffindor. It wasn't something she could understand."

"Did...she ever forgive you?"

"No."

Harry swallowed hard, angry and upset, but trying with all his might to get his emotions under control.

"How come she married him?" Harry whispered. "She hated him!"

"I only ever hoped she hated him." Snape's voice was even lower than Harry's, forcing the boy to strain to hear him. "But she didn't. They started...going out in seventh year. I assume this is because his head...deflated a little by then...and because he wasn't hexing people for the fun of it every chance he got."

"Even you?" Harry asked hopefully.

Snape's face twitched as if he was about to sneer, but thought better of it. "Some habits die hard."

"And my mum was okay with that?" The bewilderment screwed up his face.

"I doubt she really knew much about it." Snape seemed very frail suddenly as if he was recovering from a life-threatening illness. "We weren't talking anymore by then...in fact, we hardly ever saw each other. She avoided me."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your job to apologize to me."

"Oh..." Harry stared down at the floor.

"Now..." Snape took his own seat finally, everything about him seeming years older than he had been only minutes before. "I will be informing Lupin and Black about what you saw."

"What?" Harry gasped.

"And about your reaction." Snape continued coolly. "As Dumbledore would want me to."

"Why would he want that?"

"It is good for them to see who you are." Snape didn't seemed fazed by Harry's interruptions. "They need their expectations to be crushed, so they can begin to learn who you are and, perhaps, accept this."

"Great." Harry crossed his arms. "You're ratting me out. I can't even think anymore without my thoughts being broadcasted."

"I do not broadcast your thoughts." His Potions Master told him sternly. "I am simply following orders."

"You're supposed to train me in Occlumency." Harry argued. "Not show off how I reacted to seeing that my father was a git!"

Snape's smile was only there for a split second. "Control your anger, Potter."

"Don't..." Harry ran a hand over his face. "Don't call me that...it makes me feel like my father."

Standing, Snape stepped around his desk and gave Harry a calculated gaze before nodding with his head towards the door. "Our lesson is over. I suggest you get back to your Common Room and finish your homework. The last thing you need is to fail your O.W.L.s."

"Sir..."

"I believe I told you to leave."

Rising, Harry made to walk out of the room, but Snape's voice stopped him. "Don't forget about your Career Advice tomorrow."

"Right." Harry nodded and then finally left.

Back in the Common Room, he sat himself down beside Theodore and gazed absently into the fire, which someone had bewitched to change colors every thirty seconds.

"Difficult lesson?"

"Not really." Harry mumbled back to his friend's question. "Just...drama. He sees so much and I see it too and I have to...I have to live through bad things again."

Theodore nodded as if he understood, but didn't look up from his homework.

"I'm going to bed." Harry finally said.

"Have to do your homework still. Didn't do it last night either."

"I don't want to." Harry grumbled and abandoned his friend.

Lying in bed once more, Harry tried to imagine how life would have been had Snape and his mother remained friends. Would they have dated? Would they have married? Maybe...maybe Harry would still have had parents...maybe the Dark Lord wouldn't have come after his parents if Snape had been his father and then Harry would have never grown up at his aunt and uncle's and he wouldn't have felt so bad about being sorted into Slytherin because his father had been in Slytherin. Maybe he'd have even met his fellow House members sooner because Snape was on good terms with Lucius Malfoy...maybe he would have had friends before Hogwarts.

Rolling onto his side, he forced these thoughts away and fought out all the emotions raging through his mind. He had to have a clear head before he went to sleep and dwelling over what could have been wasn't going to make his current situation any better.

The following day found him in Snape's office while Umbridge sat behind Harry in an extra chair and scribbled down notes.

"In case you hadn't already figured it out," Snape began in his usual oily voice. "This meeting is to talk over any career ideas you might have, and to hep you decide which subjects you should continue into sixth and seventh years. Do you have any thoughts, any at all, about what you would like to do after you leave Hogwarts?"

Harry straightened, willing himself to ignore Umbridge's scratching quill, and answered smoothly, "I thought about being an Auror."

"A fine choice." Snape pulled out a leaflet from the pile on his desk. "You will need top grades for this position, but anyone with sense can see you have the aptitude for it. There is a requirement of five N.E.W.T.s, and nothing under 'Exceeds Expectations'. After graduating Hogwarts, you must undergo a stringent series of character and aptitude tests at the Auror's office, though these tests I am sure you will not struggle with. Regardless, it is still a difficult career path as they only take the best."

Professor Umbridge gave a tiny cough, but Snape ignored her.

"I am assuming you will want to know which subjects you should take?"

"Yes." Harry nodded. "Defense Against the Dark Arts, I suppose?"

"Obviously." Snape's drawl was a sense of comfort for Harry. "And Transfiguration." Umbridge coughed again, but he continued nonplussed, "I warn you that Professor McGonagall accepts only those who have achieved 'Exceeds Expectations' or higher, though I am fairly sure you will be able to pass with "Outstanding". Charms would also be useful and..." He glanced through Harry's folder. "Yes, I see you are performing exceptionally well in this class. There won't be any problem there. Potions is essential as well, but I can assure you will pass with 'Outstanding' here as well, but do know that I refuse to take on any student who doesn't achieve this grade."

Umbridge gave another cough, this one louder, but Snape didn't seem to hear her.

"If you are serious about this ambition, I would advice you to keep up on your studies in these three classes as any drop in improvement could be devastating to this career choice. Now, as for Defense Against the Dark Arts, your marks have been high in all your classes, and it seems Lupin thought you..."

"I was wondering if whether I could make the teensiest interruption, Severus?"

"You just did." Snape moved on as Harry fought down the grin forming on his face. "As I was saying, Professor Lupin thought you showed a pronounced aptitude for the subject, and, naturally, for an Auror..."

"Did you get my note, Severus?" Umbridge cut in.

"I did." Snape opened his mouth, but Umbridge interrupted again.

"And did you not understand it?"

"I threw it away, actually." Snape answered coolly. "Trash is supposed to be tossed, after all."

Umbridge was quiet for a long moment and Snape was about to continue once more when she spoke again.

"You are giving Mr. Potter false hope, Severus, in saying..."

"I don't believe I am, actually." Snape's jaw had tightened a fraction. "He has always achieved high marks in his classes, especially in the classes listed here that would be of use to him should he chose to be an Auror."

"I'm terribly sorry to have to contradict you, Severus, but as you saw in my note, Harry has been achieving very poor results in his classes with me..."

"My pardon." Snape's voice had taken on a malicious glee. "I believe I have spoken wrongly then. Let me amend: he has achieved high marks in all Defense Against the Dark Arts tests set by a competent teacher."

Umbridge started scribbling very fast on her clipboard while Harry fought with all the power within him to keep his amusement hidden.

"Any questions, Potter?"

"Yes." Harry straightened. "You listed four classes I should take, but what about the fifth?"

"I believe Herbology would be the best choice." Snape's eyes revealed how much he enjoyed putting Umbridge in her place. "While Care of Magical Creatures isn't a bad option since Aurors often run into Magical Creatures during their missions, Herbology is more essential in that you are more likely to face problems with plants than you are animals. Furthermore, in order to pass Potions thoroughly, you must have an understanding of your plant ingredients. Finally, if you do fail to pass all the necessary classes for becoming an Auror, having taken Herbology will mean that you have a fallback to Potioneering, at least."

"Right." Harry nodded. "And what sort of character and aptitude tests do the ministry do on you, if you get enough N.E.W.T.s?"

"Nothing you can't handle, but you will need to demonstrate the ability to react well to pressure and show perseverance and dedication, because Auror training takes a further three years, not to mention high skills in practical defense. It will mean a lot more study even after you've left school, so unless you're prepared to..."

"I think you'll also find," Umbridge said coldly. "That the Ministry looks into the records of those applying to be Aurors. Their criminal records."

"...unless you're prepared to take even more exams after Hogwarts, you should really look at another option..."

"...which means..."

"You should keep in mind that just because you make becoming an Auror your goal, does not mean you will pass all the tests and requirements, so it is important to have a fallback plan. As you are an excellent potion-maker and this requires almost all the same N.E.W.T. classes as you will be taking to become an Auror, I suggest this as your option."

"This boy has as much chance of becoming an Auror as Dumbledore has of ever returning to this school!"

"I'm glad to see you think his chances are so high." Snape was somehow managing to keep his calm despite the anger warring inside his eyes.

"Potter has a criminal record."

"And I believe he has also been cleared of all charges."

Umbridge stood up. "Potter has no chance whatsoever of becoming an Auror!"

Snape ignored her and began to shuffle papers into a folder, his hands showing only a hint of a tremble. "Mr. Potter, I will assist you to become an Auror and help you achieve the required results."

"The Minister of Magic will never employ Harry Potter!" Umbridge shouted.

"Ministers come and go." Snape waved his hand dismissively. "You don't seriously believe Mr. Scrimgeour will remain Minister forever? Considering his latest failings, I'd say his days are numbered."

"Aha!" Umbridge pointed a finger at Snape. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Of course! That's what you want, isn't it, Severus Snape! You want Rufus Scrimgeour replaced by Albus Dumbledore! You think you'll be where I am, don't you, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister and headmaster to boot!"

Snape gave her a pinched brow look as if he was surveying a mad woman. "I would seriously consider an appointment at St. Mungo's to inspect your sanity. Mr. Potter, that concludes our career consultation."

He passed Harry the folder with the accumulated information and then sent him on his way.

Harry started laughing a few corridors away, feeling as if Snape had one him some kind of small victory.

So, Snape in the first part of this chapter is acting solely on Dumbledore's orders. Anyways...hope you enjoyed.