Heavy silence hung over the large room as Harry lay motionless upon the soft bed of dark red velvet and gold thread embroidery, eyes shut tightly in slumber. The heavy curtains were drawn tightly shut around the canopy bed.
Dumbledore looked at the still body before him as his lips twitched in thought before finally breaking the quiet stillness of the air, "Severus, if you would, please. I would like for you to read through his thoughts."
Severus nodded without taking his eyes off of the young wizard on the bed before he took a deep breath. He then moved around to the opposite side of the bed before carefully pushing the curtain back with one hand while using his free hand to grasp onto the small glass phial. The tall wizard uncorked the bottle with practiced ease before turning back towards the headboard of the bed. He glanced towards Dumbledore who had positioned himself directly next to Harry.
"Let's begin," Albus stated.
Harry lay unconscious as two sets of hands carefully rolled up his left sleeve, revealing pale skin. One hand gently stroked along his forearm, making the boy shiver as he lay on top of the thick blanket covering the mattress. The hand was replaced with the glass phial of potion. It was quickly emptied into an exposed vein by a steady stream of fluid flowing from a thin needle that Severus held in his long, thin fingers.
Albus watched intently as he continued to hold onto Harry's forearm to prevent it from moving too much during the procedure. The potion began to spread through Harry's body.
Once the potion was finished, Severus took out his wand from inside of his robes, holding it above Harry's wrist.
He paused for a brief moment as he closed his eyes before finally opening them again, "Legilimens," he said softly.
A black void filled the air in front of the Potions Master's face before images appeared, swirling into place around him. The first one was a dark, lonely hallway where a figure stood watching something happen before it vanished from view, leaving the hall empty. Another scene took place, a mirror with a reflection of himself that faded away to reveal nothing but blackness behind him. There were more images following that. Each image lasted only for a few moments before moving on to something different, as if searching for something important.
Suddenly the room shifted again. This time, instead of just an image appearing in front of the Potion Master's face, Harry Potter's entire body became visible as if he was actually standing before them. He seemed to be in his usual Hogwarts uniform except that everything seemed wrong about it somehow.
There was no movement, no breathing or blinking, not even an expression. Instead, Harry stood there, unmoving.
Albus raised an eyebrow at this display as he studied the young man standing there frozen. "That's very impressive, Severus, I can see you've mastered the ability," he said quietly as he moved forward slowly with his hands clasped behind his back, "How do we control him?"
Snape narrowed his dark eyes as he focused his mind on Harry.
Suddenly Harry moved as if someone else was pulling strings attached to him. It looked unnatural. It wasn't quite real enough for this to be a hallucination, but it felt as though the world around them had turned into a dreamlike state. Everything slowed down, even though nothing else actually changed, and when the spell stopped, Harry stood motionless again with his eyes closed.
The Potions Master's eyes darted to the left of the vision of the boy in the center of the room as his eyebrows drew together. His mind's eye saw a strange shadow looming behind Harry, but it appeared blurry, like it wasn't entirely real. He glanced over his shoulder towards where he had seen it.
Albus noticed that Severus' concentration seemed to slip for a moment and his gaze moved over to where Severus had glanced towards, seeing the shadow behind the young wizard, "Is something wrong Severus?"
Severus' attention swiftly snapped back to the spot where the image of Harry stood, his focus intensifying. "It appears that whatever plagues the boy has indeed grown more potent," he remarked.
"How do we remove it then?" Dumbledore inquired as he watched the Potions Master closely, his gaze darting towards the shadow in the corner of the vision before returning to watch Severus.
Snape narrowed his cold, black, eyes as he studied the image of Harry in front of them, "Depulso!" A thin jet of silvery mist erupted from the end of Severus' wand. The fog surrounded the shadowed figure standing behind Harry as if to enclose it within a sphere of magic. It then contracted sharply until nothing was left within it but darkness.
The dark mist swirled around for a moment, dissipating into nothingness before it was gone completely. Harry's body seemed to relax and a relieved sigh escaped from his lips, his eyes opening slightly before he looked up at them.
Harry looked over towards Albus and then turned towards where he felt the presence of Severus, "What happened?" His voice was quiet, confused.
Albus glanced towards the Potions Master. Severus stared down at the young wizard lying on the bed.
"In case you failed to realize, you were under the malevolent influence of a sinister entity, most probably originating from the very confines of this abode. It has been duly neutralized," responded the Potion Master in his characteristically brusque tone, his gaze fixed upon the youth.
"The shadows? They're gone?" Harry asked softly as he shifted to sit up.
"In a manner of speaking. yes." Snape responded flatly.
"Thank you."
Albus cleared his throat and straightened as he looked to the two of them before gesturing to Severus.
Severus hesitated only a moment before turning and walking towards the door, he stopped at the threshold and glanced back over his shoulder. Harry met his gaze for a moment, their eyes locked before he finally turned away, exiting through the door.
The older wizard glanced towards where Snape had vanished before turning to Harry who sat with his arms around his legs as he gazed at the bed beneath him, "Severus and I will work with you to keep you from becoming possessed again."
Harry nodded silently.
"I am proud of you, Harry. It is encounters such as this that have led many a wizard astray down the dark path," Dumbledore said warmly. "Dark magic and its essence can often become more potent over time if allowed to linger, but you are resilient young man. It was well-done of you to have persevered and to have held true to yourself in the midst of a perilous predicament, however, I strongly suggest you consider practicing the Occlumency exercises we are going to teach you to help prevent this from happening in the future."
"Okay," Harry agreed, "Will we start today?"
"No, we must allow Severus some time to regain his composure. You both have endured a trying ordeal. Let us take a pause for today. As for other matters, the Weasleys are anticipating your arrival once our training here is complete, as is a certain bookworm," Dumbledore said, his blue eyes twinkling with mirth.
Harry felt his stomach flip when he thought of Hermione, but he couldn't help remembering what the voices had told him when they where attacking his mind. "I don't know." he wasn't sure if he was ready to see her again, not after what could have happened. "Maybe I should stay here," he offered weakly, "at least for awhile, if its safe of course."
Albus considered Harry's suggestion for a moment, "If I may, Harry. Miss Granger was rather distraught over the idea of you being left alone here in the first place. And though you and she may not realize it, she's been waiting anxiously for your arrival," Albus stated in his usual airy tone. "I think it would do the girl some good to see you, and you to see her."
Harry wasn't convinced but decided it was best not to argue with his mentor on the subject, at least for the moment, so he simply nodded his head.
Albus stood up slowly and motioned for the teen to follow suit. "Come," he said with a small smile as he placed a hand on the young man's shoulder, leading them both down the stairs to greet the other current occupants of Grimmauld Place.
Hermione Granger looked up from her book when she heard a noise, and turned to see Ron Weasley, looking decidedly bedraggled as he made his way down the path toward her and the tree she'd been leaning against. She'd come out to enjoy the early-morning sunshine. "Hello, Ron."
Ron smiled weakly as he came over to her, looking tired and out of sorts. "Hey, Hermione. What're you reading? It looks heavy." He nodded at her book, sitting on her lap, opened to the page she'd been reading before he arrived.
"It's the most recent book on Dark Creatures in Europe that was published ages ago," she said with enthusiasm, showing him the title, The Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them, written by someone named Newt Scamander.
Ron raised a brow at the size of the book, "That's huge! Are you seriously reading it?"
"It's very informative. I have a few more volumes back at Ginny's room I was thinking of taking a look at next. This is very useful. Did you know that it has the most complete entry about dragons in here? It even goes into great detail about how the author rescued and helped to heal a dragon after it got wounded in a war in France!" Hermione was positively glowing.
"Cool! Maybe I should start reading this. What else is there?" he said eagerly as he reached for the book, only for Hermione to yank it away, causing him to lose his balance.
"Oh, no you don't. You'll just dog-ear the pages and ruin my books."
Ron looked aghast. "I wouldn't! I'd never dog-ear your books! You know, my brother George makes dog-ear wands. You can borrow one of them if you'd like to stop me dog-earing your books."
She shook her head as she closed her book. "It's not that I don't trust you, Ron, it's just that you do tend to ruin things."
Ron scowled at her light heartedly at her before taking a seat next to her beside the large tree.
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Hermione asked curiously, tilting her head slightly at the redhead next to her. "Shouldn't you be asleep, like everyone else in the house? You were all out of sorts after I left."
"Well, I had some things on my mind. You know, things that needed thinking about," he mumbled as he picked at some loose blades of grass, "and, besides, I was worried about you, after last night. Sorry I told you to shut up, by the way."
"Its fine. And you didn't have to worry, I was perfectly safe." She watched his fingers move about nervously, as if they had minds of their own, picking at things without his noticing. The two teens shared a companionable silence.
"Hermione?" he asked finally, glancing at her before continuing, "What happened with Harry?"
She hesitated.
Ron waited patiently.
Hermione looked away from him. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you" she replied after a moment's contemplation, "but...I could say it involved a lot of darkness and shadows."
Ron turned toward her with a puzzled expression. "Darkness and shadows? How can there be shadows at night? I thought all shadows come from light? How would he have seen a shadow? The room wasn't dark."
Hermione turned and looked at him incredulously. "Have you been reading Muggle fairytales again?"
Ron looked away from her and started pulling up some grass again, muttering something about not having time for them.
"Why didn't you tell me you where going to visit him?" he asked suddenly, turning to look at her with a frown, "You could've asked me to go with you."
"I was going to visit him, I didn't expect anything to happen, and it's not like it's the first time I've gone alone to see him," she said softly. "Besides, it wasn't about that."
Ron continued to stare at the grass for several moments, as if in thought, before finally letting out a frustrated sigh, "Fine. Whatever. But next time you decide to go and visit our friend, who's a bloke, by the way, in a strange house where he's probably sleeping, don't forget to invite me."
"And what exactly would you be doing?" Hermione inquired as she gave Ron a curious look.
"I don't know...standing guard...keeping watch for any funny business...being there to provide moral support if something happens to you..." He stopped talking when Hermione gave him an irritated look.
"Are you trying to suggest something, Ronald?" she said crossly. "Because it sounds a lot like you think I can't defend myself against anything that may happen if it involved my being alone with Harry."
"So you where alone with him, than?" he retorted, narrowing his eyes.
Hermione frowned, her tone earnest. "Well, naturally, I was with him, Remus and Tonks were off attending to Order business. I couldn't possibly leave him alone in that grim place."
He looked away, looking as if he were deep in thought for several moments before speaking again. "Fred and George think you fancy him," he blurted. "Do you?"
She sighed. "Ron, honestly."
"You didn't deny it." He looked at her with a sour expression.
"If you're going to insist on pestering me about my love life, we might as well have a chat about the fact that you seemed to enjoy spending time with the rather odd blonde girl from across the way, what was her name?"
"Luna." Ron replied, unphased. "Luna Lovegood, remember? I told you about her, she's Ginny's friend."
Hermione's lips curled upward into a sly grin, "I thought that name sounded familiar."
"Are you jealous?" he teased, though there was a hopeful expression in his eyes.
"Why would I be jealous of Luna? You've known her for, what? A week? And you two don't seem to even be spending that much time together, to be honest, besides that one time."
Ron smirked to himself, scooting closer to the girl next to him, "Well, it was actually only for five minutes, and then she started going on about this old mermaid tale about how a mermaid found a man so beautiful she had to steal him away for herself..."
She raised a brow at him in curiosity. "A mermaid, Ron?"
He shrugged, looking down at her book, "It's not as odd as it sounds, it actually has some pretty interesting things in it...like there was this guy called...well, the MerMan...who could breathe underwater..."
He trailed off when he noticed her looking at him strangely. "What? I'm trying to prove a point, here."
"What point? That you can actually read?" she replied, giving him a playful smile. "I'm actually quite impressed with you, Ron. If only you'd apply yourself in class than you do with muggle fairy tales."
He sighed and turned to look up at the branches above him, "Hermione, can I ask you something?"
"Anything." She gazed at him as he continued to study the leaves above him.
"I've been having this feeling lately...like...you and me, you know? You know...us? Don't you feel, I don't know, unsure about certain things... you know?" he said nervously as he ran a hand through his hair.
"Ron," she started, a slightly bewildered expression crossing her features, "we've known each other for years, how can you possibly still be so unsure of things?"
"You know what I mean."
"Well, that was hardly very eloquent." She said, rolling her eyes. "What kind of things are you feeling?"
He stared at her blankly.
"Well?" She stared back, waiting.
He started to respond but stopped when he heard someone approaching behind them, and then the sound of something rustling, as if someone or something were moving quickly through the forest, getting closer.
Ron was quick on his feet. "Look out!" He pushed her down, out of harm's way. He stood over her protectively.
The large brown animal crashed through the trees behind them. A large, bushy brown tail trailed after it as it darted between the trees, stopping and staring at the two teens from behind a large oak tree, before darting off once more, disappearing into the trees.
Ron let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, before he helped Hermione stand back up.
"Ron! I didn't see anything, did you?" She looked worried as she glanced around frantically for signs of another creature approaching them, but there was no further movement in the surrounding woods.
Ron shook his head. "No, it was probably just a dog or something," he muttered, frowning as he glanced back towards where they'd been sitting a moment ago, noticing the grass flattened, where he and Hermione had been sitting.
"We'd better head back," Hermione suggested after a moment as she grabbed her book, giving the area around them one final scan for anything that might still be nearby. "The others should all be awake by now."
"I suppose," Ron mumbled, still frowning to himself before he followed her down the path leading away from the forest. "Hermione, you never answered my question from earlier."
Hermione sighed softly to herself as she walked ahead of him, "You'll have to be more specific, Ron. We were talking about a lot of things."
Ron quickened his pace until he was walking alongside her. "About you fancying Harry?"
She stopped walking and turned to look at him, giving him a stern look, "Are you seriously asking me this again?"
Ron shrugged. "I'm just curious. I mean, it's pretty obvious you like him more than you like me."
"Ron, thats simply not true," She said, her frustration building.
"It's just, you're always fussing over him, and you spend a lot of time with him, and I sometimes get the feeling you'd rather be with him than me."
Hermione sighed again, looking frustrated, "I don't know why you'd think that. Of course I care about him. I care about you, too, but I feel responsible for him, in a way."
"Oh, you feel responsible for him, do you? Well, I'm sure he just loves being your pet project. You know, like your favorite toy or something." He rolled his eyes at her.
She scowled at him, "Stop being so ridiculous, Ron. You sound jealous. If you'd like, I'll go and fetch him right now and you can tell him that yourself!"
"Jealous? Why would I be jealous? I'm not jealous, that's absurd! He can have you."
Hermione turned on her heel and marched off, her footsteps echoing loudly as she headed down the path towards the house.
"Wait! Hermione!" Ron ran after her, but she ignored him. He grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face him, "I didn't mean it like that, I just meant...that...you know..."
She glared at him.
"I just thought you might...oh I don't know, want to be with someone else. Like me," he finished, looking sheepish.
She let out an irritated breath, "You really are the most stubborn, idiotic, infuriatingly confusing person I've ever met!" She pushed him away from her, then continued down the path.
He watched her until she disappeared behind the gate leading to the back of the house. Then, he followed her, though he took his time, walking slowly and thinking.