Harry Potter 1. Operation Mindcrime

**Pawn of Prophecy**

Chapter One: Operation Mind Crime

By: RaptorX5

**Summary:** Starting from OOTP: Snape's Worst Memory and progresses from there. Snape and Harry have an altercation, Snape finds out things he didn't want to know about the boy-who-lived. Chaos ensues and there is a large fall out. Better inside, R&R!

**Warnings** AU; child neglect/abuse. Rated for language and some violence.

**Disclaimer:**This is a work of Fan fiction. I make no money from this, no infringement intended. The characters belong to J. K. Rowling. I take them out of the toy box and play with them for a bit, and then they return home to where they rightfully belong.

* * *

"Who wants to see me take off _Snivellus's_ pants?"

Whether James really did take Snape's pants off Harry never found out. A hand closed tightly over his upper arm, another grabbed him roughly by his hair and yanked, hard. The summer's day gave way to an icy bleak blackness that raised goose bumps on his flesh. With a felling that he had turned inside out and upside down, his feet hit the hard stone floor of Snape's dungeon swift enough to jar his bones and his teeth clinked together hard. He stood, knees almost giving way besides the pensive on Snape's desk.

"So . . . having fun?" Snape gripped Harry's arm tightly in a pincerlike grip that his wand hand had gone numb. "Been . . . enjoying yourself, Potter?" Harry felt a great pain at the top of his head the fist holding his hair shook with rage.

"N-no . . ." Harry gasped and jerked trying to free his arm, but the answer really wasn't to Snape's question.

Snape's lips were shaking, his face white as parchment, his were teeth barred and chattering with the force that he clenched his jaw. A sneer closer to a false smirk played at the corners of his mouth. "Amusing man, your father, wasn't he?"

Wide-eyed Harry shook his head vehemently. No one deserved to be attacked like that. Duddley and his friends always came at him like that. Three, four or five on one. No one deserved that not even Malfoy. It was revolting ! His stomach felt like a bunch of pixies were trying to break free from it . . . and it had been his ownFather! "I . . . just wanted . . ."

Snape threw Harry from him with all his might as if he could no longer stand to touch the boy. Harry fell hard on to the dungeon floor, groaning, old injuries screaming at him. Snape knelt his greasy nose touching Harry's and bellowed. "You will not tell anyone what you saw!"

"No," Harry whimpered his hands flying up to cover his face. He scooted back trying to get as far from Snape as he could, but his head smacked hard against the desk behind him. "N-no, of course I w-" How could he let people know his own father was a bullying git?

"Get out. Get out. I don't want to see you in this office ever again!" Snape wrenched Harry up by his arm and forced him in the direction of the door.

Harry stumbled towards the door panting and dizzy nearly sick to his stomach. "I- I'm s-"

A jar of dead cockroaches exploded mere inches above Harry's head, cutting off his words.

"POTTER!" If the jar shattering hadn't halted Harry's retreat from the potions Masters study, the hatred filled exclamation of his surname froze him with his hand on the door knob. Shimmers of shattered glass glinted in his unkempt hair.

"S-Snape I-"

"Regardless of our impasse or failed relationship here Potter, I am still your teacher and as such you will refer to me as 'Sir' or 'Professor' at all times." Snape's eyes we're spitting fire as if he had cast _'Incindio'_and he crossed the gap between Harry and his desk in a few quick strides. His wand held at waste height shuddered with the force it took not to draw the wand to the boy's throat. He settled with pinning the boy by the shoulders to the wall next to the door, just above the shattered jar.

"Reparo!" The jar repaired itself and the dead bugs flew back into it with another flick of his wand. Harry winched at the movement. Snape only sneered at his flinch a light smirk threatening to blossom at the corners of his mouth. He would not waste a good batch of potions ingredients on a spoiled, arrogant, worthless brat like Potter.

"S-sir-"

"Hard of hearing are we_**boy**_?" Snape said his black eyes narrowing malevolently. He jerked Harry hard by the shoulders and the boys head snapped on his neck, thudding against the brick wall behind him. "I recall instructing you to**GET OUT!"**

Harry winched and whimpered going limp under the Potion's Masters grip only to wriggle out of his hold. He spun and ducked low trying to dodge a blow that his subconscious knew had to be coming. Wishing he were invisible his checks, neck and ears reddened from embarrassment and his own store of rage, his eyes swam moist with a glint of fear. Snape had always hated Harry and the boy new it but now he was almost certain the Potion's Master was going to hurt or kill him. Harry bolted for the door; he had to get out before he was severely punished.

"Not so fast **boy**!" Snape spun on his heels wand at the ready. "_Petrificus Totalus!"_

Harry's arms snapped to his sides. His legs sprang together. His whole body was rigid, he swayed where he stood for a moment and then fell flat on his back, stiff as a board. Harry's jaw was jammed together so hard; he couldn't form words. Only his eyes moved looking up at Snape in utter horror.

It was amazing that he could withstand and fight off the _Cruciatus_ curse but that a full body bind left him utterly helpless. By Merlin! If Uncle Vernon had known anything of a magical worth other then 'Abracadabra' Harry wouldn't have survived to make it past his fifth birthday. It was hard to breathe and he couldn't even blink his eyes which were watering fiercely. He wasn't crying, wouldn't cry in front of Snape, but Harry had never, ever felt more trapped in his life. Helpless was not an endearing quality for anyone let alone a Grifindor. He wished Snape would just curse him into oblivion and be done with it. The body bind didn't hurt but the anticipation of the violence to come was killing him.

Harry had no way to break eye contact and remembered being told that under normal conditions and close cowards, eye contact was essential to Legilimency. Harry let out a strangled exhalation able to put up nothing in the forms of resistance. If at all possible his already taught muscles constricted tighter in fear, his breath caught in his throat and his heart, the only muscle not caught up in the spell speed up in it's relentless frantic flutter in his chest.

It was a worse feeling then falling out of a pensive, worse then side by side appartation or traveling by portkey, it was like lightening struck through his very brain. Alice spiraled down the rabbit hole . . . Harry had overheard Aunt Petunia telling Duddley that story once.

Snape narrowed his eyes to menacing slits and Harry had never been so petrified in his life, which was saying an awful lot.

"Legilimens!" Snape pushed harder into the boys mind then he had ever before.

The ceiling of the dungeon and Sanpe's face swam before Harry's eyes . . . and suddenly he found himself asleep in his cupboard.

* * *

_"Oi POTTER!" Dust and plaster fell over Harry where he lay and it sounded as if the ceiling would cave in on him. It sounded like stampeding Hippogriff's raged over head back and forth, over and over again. _

_"Potter, breakfast!" A shrill woman's voice called out._

_Harry rolled to his side groping for his glasses in the almost complete darkness. Instantly on his feet Harry felt for a door knob and stumbled out into the blinding brightness of morning light. Squinting he was just as quickly forced back into the darkness. A door slammed and a boy giggled and Harry banged his head on one of the shelves above his cot. He swallowed down a swear and took a shaky breath seeing stars. He pushed himself back up to his feet and stumbled back into the morning light. The boys clothes hung from his lithe frame and he rolled the sleeves of his shirt up five times before his hands could be seen, leaning against the wall to allow the world to stop spinning. _

_"Get my coffee and be quick about it boy!"_

_"Yes Uncle Vernon." Harry moved to the coffee machine which he'd set on auto the night before, it had just begun to percolate. _

_"Mind the bacon boy!" The woman said lavishing the whale of a boy with kisses. "I want everything to be perfect for my Duddley-wumpkins special day."_

_"Yes Ma'ma Aunt Petunia." Harry spun between the stove and the coffee machine. _

_"Potter_**I'm**_ going to the zoo!" The large boy regarded Harry with a sneer._

_"Coffee boy!" Uncle Vernon bellowed screwing up his face. _

_"Yes Uncle Vernon, sir."_

_Harry jumped and spun his oversized sleeve catching the handle of the frying pan, dragging it to the floor as he moved to fill the man's coffee mug. _

_"POTTER!" Harry's Uncle was red from his neck to the root of his hair as the boy deposited the piping hot mug down in front of him. He grabbed Harry by the wrist and wrenched him to his knees throwing him by the scruff of his neck to the floor in front of the stove. "Clean it up!"_

_"Y-yes Uncle Vernon." Harry stammered reaching out to pick up the pan without thinking. He winched against the searing pain that shot through his finger tips, dropping the pan again. He bit down on his bottom kip swallowing back a bellow of pain and managed to cover it up with a simple sharp intake of breath. _

_"MOM." The large boy whined. "Potter ruined breakfast and I'M HUNGRY!"_

_Aunt Petuinia returned from the other room, pale and shaking a look of true disgust on her face. "She can't take him . . . Mrs. Figg, she broke her leg." She threw a sheepish glance at her husband. _

_"I don't want that_** freak**_ going!" The large boy broke into a tantrum, blubbering without any real tears. "He ruins _**everything**_!"_

_Harry cleaned up quickly his smarting blistering fingers ignored and started another pan on the stove, Uncle Vernon had him by the ear before he could even blink. _

"_Blatant waste of my hard earned food, finish cooking _**our **_breakfast boy."_

* * *

_The Memory shifted like ripples over the top of a lake and Snape was carried along an unwilling observer. _

_Harry squirmed out of the cargo hold of the back of the station wagon where he'd been sandwiched between a cooler and the spare tire, un-restricted. Clamoring out of the back he nearly tripped over his pant leg which had come unrolled, he toppled unceremoniously into Vernon Dursely's waiting grasp, which had nothing to do with preserving his well being. Hands grabbed his shoulders hard enough to bruise and he was snapped backwards hitting his head on the back of the car. _

_"I'm warning you, Potter!" His name was spoke as though it tasted bad coming from Uncle Vernon's lips. He pressed his large purple face right up close to Harry's so that the boy could smell the breakfast he'd cooked but no been allowed to eat. "I'm warning you now, boy . . . any funny business, anything at all . . ." Uncle Vernon shook him hard. "And you'll be in your cupboard from now until Christmas." _

_"I'm not going to do anything." Harry bent to tie his shoe which had come undone and muttered regretfully. "I _**never**_ do anything . . ." He stood up and took a step to follow his 'family'. _

_"Don't dawdle boy." Aunt Petunia hissed through her teeth.. _

_"Yes Aunt-" Harry took another step and was tripped and landed unceremoniously on his hand and knees in the gravel parking lot._

_ Dudley broke into a fit of giggles. "Freak!" The insult was tossed over his shoulder with a sneer as he scampered to grab his mother's hand. _

_Harry hoisted himself up to his feet his already blistering hands smarting and slightly tore up. _

_Uncle Vernon was right there glaring down at him. "Do not annoy us . . . you don't know us." He turned his back on Harry and moved to join his family. "Do not get lost . . . and _**No Funny Business!" **

_Harry scrambled to keep up but knowingly kept a safe distance from the happy family a hapless straggler. _

* * *

_"Get out of the way Potter!" Dudley threw him hard to the stone floor of the reptile house. "Mum, Dad come look at what this snake is doing!" _

_Harry didn't care that he was mistreated, only that he had lost contact with the only personal communication he'd had in a very long time. The Snake seemed to be a friend._

_Both his Aunt and Uncle brushed past Harry on the floor as if he didn't exist to heed the call of their precious son. _

* * *

_"OUT FREAK!" Uncle Vernon grabbed him by his hair and forced him out of the car and through the front door of the house. _

_"Vernon mind the neighbors!" Aunt Petunia hissed taking a moment's respite from fawning over Dudley. His cousin was soaking wet, wrapped in a blanket and blubbering on and on incoherently though he seemed unhurt. _

_"I didn't _**do**_ anything." Harry pleaded. _

_"I'm sure that Dudley got into the snakes tank all on his own?" Uncle Vernon pinned the boy to the wall across from the front door._

"_I didn't _**do**_ anything! One second you all were pressed up against the glass, then Duddley fell into the water . . . it was like magic!" Harry's voice dropped at the end of the sentence knowing he was using a word forbidden in this house and much worse then any cuss he could think up. _

_Uncle Vernon backhanded him hard. "There is _**no**_ such _**thing**_** boy!" **_

_A stray tear escaped out of Harry's eye and trickled down his cheek. _

_"You dare pull a stunt like that on Dudley's birthday?" Uncle Vernon wrenched Harry's arm behind him. _

_"No . . . I . . ." Harry whined in pain. "Uncle Vernon, I didn't do-"_

_"You _arrogant freak! _You should have _died_ along with your_ useless_ parents." Uncle Vernon opened the door under the stairs and kicked the boy inside. "No meals for a week!" _

_The cupboard door was slammed shut and double latched from the outside. Curled up on his side on the small cot Harry held his side drawing a difficult breath. He'd gotten off pretty easy this time, being ignored and invisible was better then being pushed around. He closed his eyes to a chorus of Happy Birthday and the smell of freshly baked cake. _

* * *

_"Night Mum." Duddley called out and Aunt Petunia's steps thudded up the stairs above him and Harry snapped awake. _

_Duddley moved to follow his mother upstairs when his father caught him by the crook of his elbow. "Hold on son, I've got one more present for you."_

_Duddley jumped and clapped his pudgy little hands. "That makes an even . . . what is that then?" _

_"Fourty." Harry spoke up from inside his cupboard before he thought better of it bringing a hand up to cover his mouth too late. _

_The door to his cupboard banged open and Uncle Vernon pulled Harry from his cot and forced the boy out into the backyard. _

_"Oi POTTER . . . so you thought that bit with the snake was funny?" Uncle Vernon sneered down at him._

_"N-no sir." Harry shook his head his shaggy hair flying. It was dark and he didn't have his glasses on and Duddley and Uncle Vernon were big fat indistinguishable blobs to him. They forced him to the grass and Harry stumbled to his knees before scrambling to his feet indignantly. _

_"I think you got a real kick out of it." Uncle Vernon leered behind the boy. Lashing out with a kick of his own bringing Harry back to his knees. _

_Duddley snickered somewhere behind Harry as well. "It was cold in that water idle-potty."_

_Harry shrieked Duddley had turned the hose on him and he was only dressed in an old tee-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts. Uncle Vernon took the hose from his son and snaked it at Harry's feet forcing the boy to jump as it smacked against his shins. _

_"Your friend is back boy!" _

_Duddley let out an overjoyed peal of laughter. _

_Harry gasped as the hose struck his back. He gritted his teeth. He would not gasp, he wouldn't cry, he couldn't give the Dursley's the satisfaction. The metal nozzle of the hose made the worst marks. After a few more lashes, one for each year Duddley was old, each year Harry had been an inconvenience on his relatives, Harry's knee's gave way and he was dragged back to his cupboard._

* * *

_Darkness. Harry's damp clothes clung to him and he shuddered violently. His back ached and his breath came in shallow gaps. He'd been in the cupboard for days or a lifetime, It was hard to tell without a watch in almost complete darkness. He was drenched in sweat and shivering, his head swam. He coughed the spasm sending waves of pain through his back . He couldn't sleep, but he was so tired his eyes burned. His stomach growled but he groaned knowing there was nothing to help him. Pressing his face into the pillow, laying on his empty stomach to save his tortured back he refused to let his hitching breath give way to sobs. Too tired to care about something he couldn't change the 'Friendless freak' drifted into a fitful sleep. He didn't really sleep so much as he blacked out. _

* * *

"ENOUGH!" Hands on Snape's shoulders wrenched him from Potter breaking the hold the Legilimist held on his mind.

_Enough Indeed. _Snape found himself physically shaking.

"Professor," Snape stammered a far away glint in his eyes. "Dumbledore," Snape cleared his throat and shuddered offering the older man a weak sneer. "Albus, it was only a low level jinx. The boy-" Snape's voice hung on the word. "Mr. Potter has become quite good at literally throwing me from his mind. Using the stinging charm, shielding charm and other such unpleasantries. I'd tired of finding myself half-way across the room, or worse striking the wall. I wanted to eliminate such a chance, really test the strength of the bo-" Snape pursed his lips as if the word left a bad taste in his mouth. "child's mind."

Dumbledore winked at Snape that familiarly annoying twinkle in his eye, as if he knew much, much more then he was letting on. Snape snorted exasperated and stalked over to the arm chair behind his desk, albeit he moved much more jerkily then he would have liked, lurching into the desk before sinking into the seat. Snape collapsed into the chair a shaky hand pinching the bridge of his nose where a headache was brewing.

Dumbledore turned his back on Snape allowing the man a quiet moment to collect himself. Snape sat fingers steepled his forehead resting atop his hands slowly breathing in and then out. That was not at all what he'd expected to be faced with inside of the famous brat-who-lived's mind.

"Incarnate Evarate." Dumbledore flicked his wand at Harry who bolted up into a sitting position with a shuddering gasp of pure horror. Wild unfocused eyes darted around the study as if seeing nothing. "Alright Harry?"

Harry drew a shuddering wheezy breath and stood as if someone had put the jelly-legs jinx on him. He panted his back pressed against the cold dungeon wall. Harry shook his head vehemently 'no' a caged animal glint in his eyes. Harry doubled over sick to his stomach and retched but refused to be sick. He hiccupped back a sob her refused to let surface and bolted. He fled into the storm room slamming the previously open door causing Snape to jump in his seat. A second door banged open and then shut to the sound of breaking glass. Snape cringed that could only be the door to his own personal storage closet.

Dumbledore made to start off after the alarmed boy.

"Let. Him. GO." Snape snapped his gaze rose threateningly from his hands as if daring the Head Master to make a move, before he seemed to loose all nerve and his unsettled gaze fell back to the top of the desk.

"Severus, my boy-" Dumbledore reached for Snape's shoulder across the desk.

"Don't!" Snape twisted out from under the offending hand.

Dumbledore jerked his hand back and spread them both wide in a non-threatening gesture, a cup of hot chocolate and a cup of tea appeared between them on the desk.

"You and Harry are progressing well then?" Dumbledore asked with that mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Is that what brought you to my study tonight, sir?" The hand Snape held the tea cup in shook so much that it clattered against the saucer. "A progress report?" He lifted the cup to stop the offending sound. His voice was full of doubt and scorn that he could not repress in his edgy state.

"Nothing else." Dumbledore nodded once.

"Mr. Potter and I are progressing well." Snape sneered with no power behind it at all his pride deflating.

"Drink your tea, my boy." Dumbledore insisted nudging the cup back towards Snape his words were spoken with all the strength that one would normal put behind a stern request of 'clam down'.

Snape quirked a brow and smirked at the Head Master over the rim of the cup. He wouldn't douse the Potions Master's tea with say a calming drought, would he? No, it wasn't Dumbledore's style. Snape cocked his head as if something had just occurred to him and flicked his wand towards his store room and muttered a soft almost wordless spell sipping his tea cautiously.

It was Dumbledore's turn to fix Snape with a bemused, knowing yet questioning look of his own.

Tense words passed through thin pressed lips, with an air of forced indifference. "The boy was alone in a dark store closet. . . " Snape shrugged dejectedly a movement usually far beneath him that he considered useless. His hands stilled and the shudder moved to his core hitching his shoulders as if he were caught in a silent fit of laughter. Though Severus was in his own dark corner the farthest from mirth he could possibly be.

"Severus?" Dumbledore's voice was soft and concerned yet Snape still jumped as if Dumbledore had screamed his name at top volume.

"Sir?" Snape's head snapped up and he shrunk away from the Head Master rounding his shoulders like a scolded child. "Yes Head Master?"

"Distressing memory?" Dumbledore inclined his head as if in the form of a question.

"You, could say that," Snape gave a curt nod of his head, and swiped a loose strand of hair out of his face. "Sir . . .?" Snape was uncharacteristically hesitant. "I did this to the b-" Snape cleared his throat. "To Mr. Potter."

"Severus, a body bind is of no real concern." Dumbledore concentrated on his cup of cocoa with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"No!" Snape started. "I call him boy and Potter and make him jump . . ." Snape seemed distressed and spoke as if the Head Master should understand his anguish.

"You do." Dumbledore acknowledged with a nod of his head, that understanding twinkle brightening his eyes. "It is one of Harry's chief complaints about your behavior towards him."

"Like those filthy muggles!" Snape had rushed on as if he hadn't even heard Dumbledore. Snape set his empty cup down on the saucer with a definite clink before a light flush rose to his cheeks as he realized the severity of what had just burst forth from his lips.

"Severus?" Dumbledore's questioning gaze fell on Snape yet again. "Harry's relatives do not enjoy his company much but, their blood does keep him safe."

_And what keeps Potter 'safe' from them? _Snape sighed. This was too fresh in his mind for Snape to debate it with the Head Master. Neglect was just as bad as any physical harm they inflicted on the boy. Far worse it was for him to feel like an outcast in his own home, bumps and bruises healed after time. The mental trauma was so sever that-

"Severus?" Dumbledore leaned in closer to the Potions Master. "Is there something that needs to be brought to my attention?"

"Not at the present Head Master." Snape shook his head dismissing the train of thought.

Dumbledore drained his cup of hot coca with a light shrug of his shoulders, if something was pressing Snape would come to him; if said something was too much for Snape to handle on his own he would come to the Head Master post haste. Snape always had followed this pattern with his Syltherins and knowing his constant vigilance over Harry's wellbeing over the past years, Dumbledore left this current problem up to the younger man's discretion. Snape would come to him in due course once whatever the issue with Harry was had become clear to him, but until then . . .

"How is your current consignment of Wolfsbane going?" That twinkle shone in Dumbledore's eye again. He'd always found that once Snape was impassioned about potions his mind often wandered and dealt better with troublesome situations. Wether he was brewing for the side of light or the Dark Lord himself, Potions always put the ill at ease man into a state where in his true element he gave off an aura of almost relaxed contentment. "Are you working on anything new, my boy?"

Snape's eyes brightened for a breift moment. "The Wolfsbane is effortless now, and yes I've already refined the new batch for Lupin's next cycle."

"And your _research_?" Dumbledore quirked an eyebrow refilling both cups in front of them with piping hot liquid again, a wave of his hand stoked the fire in the room.

Snape allowed himself to forget himself for a moment and with a soft sigh slumped lower in his chair. Something of a twinkle of high-spirited self-worth filtered through his dark eyes and a light bemused smirk tugged at the corner of his thin lips, but refused to surface. Snape's newest project was something he'd been working on for The Dark Lord, but he felt no harm in letting The Head Master in on the less specific details of it. He was excited feeling he'd really out done himself this time, or at least once he was through with and had polished the brew. Snape launched into a lively monologue and Dumbledore asked polite questions along the way, the Potions Master calming and becoming more animated as he went on. His potions research was truly all he had left to truly live for. Snape could have gone on for days but eventually he raised a hand to silence the Potions Master.

"Severus's, it is well after curfew and I am not a young man anymore." A quickly cast '_Tempus'_alerted him to the fact that they were in fact burning the candle at both ends.

Snape snorted lightly coming very close to outright laughter. "Am I boring you, sir?"

"Not in the least my boy." Dumbledore did laugh outright, stiffening a yawn. "Your research is always quite engaging and I do believe that this is the most I've heard you speak outside of Order meetings for ages."

Snape felt a slight warmth rise to his cheeks and ducked his head unawares of exactly how to answer his mentor. "I shall endeavor to rectify that Albus."

"My door is always open, my boy." Dumbledore rose from his chair waving his hand and clearing the empty mugs from Snape's desk.

"Not exactly open, sir." Snape couldn't help but rib the man lightly.

"I do enjoy a good treacle tart Severus." Dumbledore winked at the younger man.

Snape looked at The Head Master as if the old man had truly lost his mind. "Excusse me sir, are you saying you'd like to stay for a snack?"

"The password…" Dumbledore paused for emphasis. "Is _Treacle tart_. And my door is always open, you need only ask the gargoyles and they will admit you Severus."

"Of course, sir." Snape couldn't keep the light sneer from his lips. "Goodnight Albus."

"Rest well, my boy." Dumbledore rested a hand on Snape's shoulder before standing to take his leave.

The Head Master floo'ed out of the classroom and Snape stood from behind his desk allowing himself a private chuckle. With a wave of his wand Snape extinguished the candles in the room and stalked off towards the door his robes billowing characteristically out behind him. He paused about to exit the room distracted by a faint glow coming from under the door of his inner study. Snape **swore** he'd almost forgotten that Potter was there! The Head Master had a way of making him forget himself.

Systematically he navigated the classroom only by the sliver of light and opened the door to his study. He stood steadying himself outside of his store room closet suddenly remembering the slamming door and the sound of breaking glass. Merlin forbid had anything mixed producing noxious fumes! Snape mentally smacked his forehead; feeling like a dunderhead for not thinking of it sooner, though he'd never had admitted it to another living soul. He didn't really look angry but his sneer spoke volumes of his irritation. He schooled his features and then carefully opened the door; cautious of what he would be faced with, bracing himself if the boy rushed at him.

Nothing happened when Snape opened the door and still he flinched before he relaxed. In the brightly lit room the he quickly took stock of his stores. Nothing seemed amiss. The smell accosted his nostrils before he'd had a really decent look. A few vials of rose water which had been housed too close to the edge of a full shelf lay shattered in the center of the room, it was nothing dangerous and quite easy to replace. Had he not known that Potter had taken refuge in here, he would not have known that anyone had entered the room. In fact he could not at first see where the boy was, and the store closet was not that large. His legilimency was overwhelmed with a stiffening feeling of safety, which he felt the need to occlude his mind. It was not that he did not want to feel safe; he just didn't want to be overpowered by any one emotion and so his mental shields went up stronger. Turning into the waves of safety before completely shutting them out he noticed a few boxes in the back of the closet that were pushed out about two feet from the wall they had previously rested against.

Harry was curled up laying on his side in the fetal position, his knees drawn to his chest and his arse pressed into the corner where the walls met. His head rested on his bony elbow, his face calm in slumber, his brow contorted in fear and discomfort. He looked innocent in sleep but the rest was not allowing his mind any ease. Snape mused, could such a confined space truly make one feel safe? With a flick of his wand and a muted '_Depulso_' Snape shifted the cartons to the far side of the room, out of his line of sight.

"Mr. Potter?" Snape's monotone velvety voice dropped several intervals to a low drawl. It was not wise to startle the already stressed out child. Children woken suddenly from night terrors were often combative; years of being the head of Slytherin house had taught him nothing less. Snape crouched in front of the boy his knees cracking fiercely in protest; years of spying had done a number on his joints. He cleared his throat loudly not wanting to alarm the boy or rouse him too suddenly. All the same, it would not do for him to let the boy spend the night in the dungeons, let alone his own personal store room. Snape simply would have none of that, he trusted no one alone with his stores most assertidly not Potter.

"MR. POTTER!" Snape said in the most stern and commanding voice he could muster without yelling. Harry flinched at the sound of his name but remained in his slumber.

Snape weighed his options, none of them did he find very endearing a solutions to the sleeping child holed up in his stores. He wasn't even sure the boy was sleeping, his magical core may have put him into a short term coma to heal from the trauma or his mind had sheltered him so well that this was it's way of avoiding a crisis or worse. As the head of Sytherin house he was used to dealing with problem children, but never did he imagine the boy-who-lived would be just as mistreated as a half blood sorted into Sytherin. Snape hesitated a long moment still debating.

The child could not stay where he lay because Snape had no desire to stay in his office. If they weren't inside Hogwarts he simply would have side by side apparted the boy to his room in Gryffindor tower. He would feel a fool if even caught by Filch this late in the night levitating the boy's body through the halls with a '_Locomotor'_ spell. Though he did use the spell to move Potter from the closet and out into his study where he placed the boy on the couch in front of the fireplace.

"Mr. Potter?" Snape loomed over the boy and took him by the shoulders shaking him though not violently. "Wake up this instant!"

Harry's eyes moved rapidly behind his shut lids and he flinched. Snape sighed. One could floo with a child, but if one of the occupants of the network could not speak and was an adult it usually ended in someone getting lost or splinched. He could floo Minerva and allow her deal with the situation as the child's head of house, but that would entail explaining his lesions with Potter. The Head Master was adamant that the less people that knew Harry was becoming proficient in Occlumency the more effective it would be as a skill for fighting The Dark Lord. Snape could always lie to Minerva and tell the woman Potter had fallen ill during a detention but the transfiguration professor had an uncanny way of knowing when Snape was mendacious even as far back as his own days at Hogwarts. He could floo the Head Master because he had started and forced this relationship and let him deal with the fall out he'd created.

Snape crouched next to the couch close enough to touch the boy, contemplating the situation he had found himself stuck in. He was not equipped to deal with an emotional Potter. An emotional child he could handle, but . . . Snape twitched and sneered a wave of pain cascading over his body from his arm forcing him to the floor. He swore and the room swam before his eyes. Dragging himself back to his feet he felt foolish at the fact his knee's buckled. One would have thought that by now, this far into the servitude of his 'Dark Lord' he would have been used to the pain of the summons. It was never quite the same twice, the intensity of the pain, the type of pain or the urgency behind it always varied. Right now the Dark Lord wanted his inner circle by his side, or at least Severus now! He stumbled over to the hearth loathe to remove his hand from where it clenched his forearm yet he pulled out a handful of floo powder almost knocking over the canister and causing it to fall to the floor.

"Head Master's private quarters." His voice cracked a strained ghost of it's normal placid monotone.

Dumbledore's fire place flared up green and Snape's head and shoulders came through. His gaze darted from side to side but he could not see Dumbledore anywhere. Snape's all but frantic plea filled the room. "Head Master?"

Another wave of pain coursed through the Dark Mark and caused his body a tremulous motion his knee's slamming into the stone at the base of the fireplace. "By Merlin!" Snape swore sucking air through his teeth. Just where had the old coot gotten away too? "Albus!"

Dumbledore appeared from a door at the rear of the room. He wore an appalling ankle length dressing gown and matching night cap where the pom-pom at the end of the cap fell at his waist. Matching large fuzzy slipper clad feet shuffled quickly to the fire place and he crouched before the flames. Sleepiness obscured that ever present twinkle from his eyes. "Severus what ever is the matter, my boy?"

The summons had begun once he had levitated Potter out from his store closet. He had only allowed the pain to filter through once he was assured the boy was in a safer place. Snape gritted his teeth and panted a short reply. "I've been summoned, sir."

A look of bewilderment crossed Dumbledore's face. Snape usually informed him upon his return from a Death Eater's meeting, never before unless there was a pressing issue, or he was in a situation where his hasty departure would need explaining away. This was highly abnormal. "What do you need of me, dear boy?"

"Come through?" Snape asked the open ended question with one of his own doing nothing to alleviate Dumbledore's apprehension.

"You need only step back." Dumbledore nodded his consent and rushed into the floo noting the desperation behind the younger man's plea.

Dumbledore came through the floo not a trace of soot or ash on his person. It was the mark of a truly gifted wizard to be able to come out of a floo unscaved and in as pristine a condition as they entered it in. Dumbledore stepped through without and issue and took in the scene in the room around him. Harry Potter lay curled up on the couch in the fetal position clearly in some form of distress, his brow creased in anguish and he muttered frantic indistinguishable protests. Snape was not in much better shape. The Potions Master was deathly pale with a thin sheen of sweat glistening on his brow. His brow was creased in determination his eyes conveying a frenzied need for escape.

"Severus?" The Head Master seemed completely befuddled by what he was seeing.

Snape rolled his eyes with a frustrated snort. "Potter seems to have lost consciousness inside my store closet while we conversed about my latest research endeavors. He will not rouse, in fact he's being quite adamant about not cooperating."

Dumbledore smiled. "I will see to Harry's welfare." He nodded resting a hand on Snape's shoulder which was meant to be reassuring, but his touch coincided with another flare of pain from the Dark Mark and Snape's knee's buckled dangerously again. "Severus make sure you take care of your own. You'll be sure to let me know once you've returned, my boy?"

Snape nodded relief evident in his face as he spun with a swish of his robes and fled his own chambers as if the devil were on his heals. "Indeed I shall."

Snape fled the confines of the wards on the grounds and the moment that his feet touched the ground of the Forbidden Forest outside of bounds he apparted to meet the Dark Lord.

* * *

**Authors note:**Hey guys I promises the action will pick up! I go to school for Medical Assisting and work and have a house so I will update as soon as I can but can not commit to an update schedule right now. I am sorry about that. I will see you all soon, please review.

One a side note this chapter was finished yesterday, Thursday, January 9, 2008, but I felt bad leaving Snape on his way to a Death Eater meeting on his Birthday! Happy Birthday Severus!


	2. The way it is who's to blame?

**Pawn of Prophecy**

Chapter Two: The way it is . . . Who's to blame?

By: RaptorX5

**Summary:** Starting from OOTP: Snape's Worst Memory and progresses from there. Snape and Harry have an altercation, Snape finds out things he didn't want to know about the boy-who-lived. Chaos ensues and there is a large fall out. Better inside, R&R!

**Warnings** AU; child neglect/abuse. Rated for language and some violence.

**Disclaimer:**This is a work of Fan fiction. I make no money from this, no infringement intended. The characters belong to J. K. Rowling. I take them out of the toy box and play with them for a bit, and then they return home to where they rightfully belong.

"We wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our

eyes,--

This debt we pay to human guile;

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,

And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,

In counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us, while

We wear the mask."- Dunbar

* * *

Snape grabbed his Death Eater robes and mask and with his robes billowing out behind him slammed both the bookcase and his quarter's door behind him. Dumbledore stared down at Harry Potter the slamming of both doors made the boy winch but other then that he showed no signs of responding to the waking world.

"Harry?" Dumbledore's voice was soft and full of concern as he stooped to place a firm hand on the boys shoulder. Harry whimpered lightly at the physical contact but still he did not rouse.

Severus had left Dumbledore with very little information on the boy's condition. His lack of responsiveness could have been attributed to any number of ailments and for the moment the Head Master did not feel a particular need to involve Madame Pomfrey. She would of course require an explanation that Dumbledore was not qualified to give the matron at the moment. Dumbledore knew she held a high opinion of his competent in healing, though if the situation was too demanding he would instantly defer Harry's care to her qualified hands.

A strong feeling of inadequacy began to fall on the Head Master as he stood idly watching young Mr. Potter, actions always spoke volumes over intentions. It was not entirely disconcerting finding himself in Severus's quarters without his presence, but it did feel as if he were intruding. With a wordless flick of his wand Dumbledore levitated Harry off of the couch and toward the fireplace. The connection between Severus's rooms and his own had been left open in his urgency to help the Potion's Master, so he returned both himself and Harry to his own private quarters. The Headmaster's private quarters were a place no student was usually privileged to see, in fact very few members of the staff met with him anywhere except for his office. While he didn't like to play favorites only Minerva McGonagall, Rubeus Hagrid, and Severus Snape had seen the most inner sanctum of his private quarters, and usually it was for tea over a very pressing matter.

He'd placed the boy on his own couch and flicked his wand at the Harry. "_Rennervate_"

The reaction was nothing like the one he had received down in the dudgeons. Harry simply shifted in his sleep and gave a startled gasp of fright but did not stir This gave the Head Master pause for just a moment, speaking the incantation and going through the motions rather then wand less magic usually had a stronger effect. At a loss as to how to wake the child or what was keeping him unconscious Dumbledore began running through the list of common diagnostic spells, hoping to find the problem.

* * *

Snape apparted his wand pressed firmly to the Dark Mark, assured that he would appear wherever the Dark Lord wanted him to be. Responding to the Dark Lord's summons always worked that way. When Snape materialized at his destination in full Death Eater dress one quick glance around alerted him to his presence directly in front of the Dark Lord. Swiftly and with an outpouring of respect Snape genuflected with a grandiose bow his forehead almost hitting the ground. Snape suppressed a slight shudder and tilted his mask up to bring his lips to the hem of the Dark Lords robes.

Snape summoned a tone of respect and adoration his voice rang out clear in the echo of the hall. "My Lord."

"Severus." The Dark Lord acknowledged his greeting cupping a hand under the younger mans chin to simultaneously tilt his head up and with a wave of his free hand vanished the man's mask so that he could look into his eyes. "Arise."

With a respectful nod of acknowledgment and gratitude Severus rose to his feet. "My Lord."

The Dark Lord had summoned him into a main hall somewhere that looked suspiciously like a throne room and once Snape rose to his feet the Dark Lord reclined into a chair. The chair was a high winged back, studded, black leather throne; there was no mistaking the garishness of it. Rather then stating the obvious, that Severus was late, he stated the question much more eloquently. "What kept you Severus?"

Snape ducked his head at the inquiry. He schooled his thoughts bringing to the front of his mind the last time he had brewed the potion he was researching for the Dark Lord and offering the memory front most in his mind. He had brewed the potion and placed a stasis field charm around it before he had reached a point that he could answer the summons. "My Lord I was preoccupied in your service."

Snape felt the ice cold presence of the Dark Lord tearing his way haphazardly into his mind while the Dark Lord drew his wand to press threateningly to his throat. "Very well Severus, see that you don't delay me again."

"Yes, My Lord." Snape bowed his head.

"How is my research progressing?" The Dark Lord did not withdraw the threat of his wand.

Snape launched into the same lively details that he had given the Head Master only hours before but with much more fervor. He detailed every pain staking step of the process and ensured the Dark Lord that he was very hopeful of the prospective outcome of his work, but hedged on the fact that it was very slow going work. He assured the Dark Lord that he was dutifully working on the new potion in every waking spare moment he possessed. Snape was very busy with Head of House duties, teaching, misleading the order and making Potter's life as unbearable as he possibly could. He took great joy in making Potter's life as unbearable as possible with the help of his little snakes, the sons and daughters of many of the Dark Lords inner circle and strongest supporters.

The Dark Lord seemed to take every word that Severus feed him as simple truth, after all the Potions Master was one of his most trusted servants. "What news of Harry Potter?"

"My Lord?" Snape cringed at the question. His mind behind his shields reeled for a brief second before he schooled his thoughts and features. Severus was wondering the same thing himself at the moment.

"Do you question me, Mr. Snape?" The Dark Lords wand hand twitched, his voice was a threatening hissed, menacing whisper.

"No, My Lord . . . your question is vague, sir." Snape's schooled gaze fell to the floor like a chastised child. "He continues to live much to our collective chagrin, and continues to be a thorn in my side."

The Dark Lord laughed at this, a faint hissing sound escaping tightly pressed lips. "What of his so called training?"

Snape rolled his eyes with a smirk of his own. "The arrogant whelp is still undisciplined and sloppy at best. In so much as he has never had a competent DADA professor, a credit to the great Albus Dumbledore's staffing abilities." The sarcasms at this statement dripped off Snape's tongue like honey off a spoon, though it caused a momentary sharp pain in his heart. "The Order is even more discombobulated in it's duties regarding the child. They are continually undermined by your carefully place Ministry influence. Were you to come up against the insolent brat this very evening, he would offer up so much resistance as a muggle baby."

The Dark Lord had been grinning like a fool the entirety of Snape's monologue until this very moment where his features darkened into violent disdain. Coming to the surface was the insecurities of a child turned away from the world and brought up in the cold uncaring environment of an orphanage. Normally the Dark Lord was far attached from this diffidence, but the lonely child surfaced on very rare occasions. Snape was clearly taking a shot at the night a wizarding babe lead to his downfall. The Dark Lord's face broke into a nasty sneer. "Is that so?"

Not in the employ of his own Legilimency skills Snape managed to miss this dangerous turn in the Dark Lords mental state. "Certainly, My Lord."

The Dark Lord withdrew his wand from Snape's throat only to snap it back in a close quartered cast._ "Crucio!"_

Under the influence of the intolerable pain of Cruciatus curse Severus's knees buckled and he sneered at the Dark Lord before finding his body prone on the floor. His skin crawled, his nerves were spitting fire throughout his body. Severus bit down hard on his bottom lip, he chose not to make a sound, knowing full well it was one of the things the Dark Lord gained joy from. The dark Lord was sadistic and enjoyed making his victims scream, it was a mark of a job well done. Severus's body bucked of it's own accord, there was nothing he could do to fight it, but his mind drifted away. Dissociation, the muggles called it. Dissociation is a state of acute mental decompensation in which certain thoughts, emotions, sensations, and/or memories are compartmentalized because they are too overwhelming for the conscious mind to integrate. Muggles thought it was a subconscious strategy for managing powerful negative emotions, but Severus knew better. It was a very effective mechanism for self-preservation. Occlumency had it's benefits. As his eyes rolled back in his head from the pain, his conscious mind retreated back behind his occlumency shields.

Inside his mind Severus held many compartmentalized memories easily accessible, some he readily pushed to the forefront of his mind before apparting to a Death Eater meeting. Layered behind the tolerable memories lay a complex labyrinth, that rivaled the maze in the third task of the Triwizards tournament. The labyrinth had many different paths of exit all leading to an identical door, almost thirty in all. These door were really concrete-filled blast door's, remnants of a trip his ex-military paranoid muggle of a father had taken him on to a complete bomb/fallout shelter. It had been the inspiration for many of the panic rooms built into the Manor where he grew up, and served the same purpose here in his mind. Severus headed straight for the door he knew to lead to the deepest recesses of his mind and passed through it. He removed the handle and took it inside with him, at the same time the handle on all twenty-nine of the other doors disappeared as well. His father stoic voice complete with alcohol induced slur rang softly in his mind, "The handle comes off and you take it inside with you so there is no "pick point" for someone to try and attach a tow chain or use a pry bar to gain access when you are inside. Remember Severus, the door is constructed of steel it has a lot of dense mass between you and whatever fallout is outside, and it helps to prevent anyone from using a cutting torch to gain access through the door - concrete doesn't "burn.""

Behind this door Severus held anything he deemed that the Dark Lord or any enemy could use as a weapon against him. Housed in the compartment with him were an array of thoughts and feeling both pleasant and terrifying, anything emotional at all. The things that surrounded him had kept him sane in Azkaban and kept him safe from pain. Severus attributed this compartment to the reason he wore two masks in the real world, one was grasped in his hand, the mask of a loyal Death Eater, and the schooled expressionless mask of a soldier father had taught him. Here he took joy in his loyalty to the Order, and Dumbledore as well as his feelings for the man, more a father then his own had ever been. In this compartment he kept all his insecurities, being a vulnerable person he craved membership of something big and powerful, something impressive and so he joined the Death Eaters. Here lived things as trivial as school boy crushes and true feelings toward killing. Here was where his insecurities lied, distaste in his own appearance and his weight, and disdain at many strong family memories. Jealousy at Remus, who he could have deemed a worthy and loyal friend had it not been for Potter, as well as Lilly who had been his friend first. Potter had taken all of that from him . . . Potter, James Potter not his son, not Harry. Harry was a new conundrum, what to do for the boy?

Snape couldn't sit idly by while he knew a child was in danger. Potter was, thoughts of the Golden Boy brought pain.

Pain opened up the door to the agony that racked his body. White hot and intense. Pain when remembered, and though the boys pain was not his own it was close enough, he had experienced it. He had been drawn quickly from the deeper recesses of his mind back to the presence. He heard the Dark Lord cackle at the low moan that was now escaping Severus's thinly pressed lips. He had bitten down so had that the bottom one tore and he tasted the metallic salty twang of blood. This was a favored past time of the Dark Lord. He knew that Severus could hold out longest against the Cruciatus curse, he liked to see how far he could push the man before he broke and screamed. This was a past time reserved for times where there was need for some sick amusement, or in times of furious anger. The Dark Lord needed his Potions Master and so the game was never pushed to the point where irreparable damage was done. Never to the point like the Longbottom's. Lord Voldermort just liked to hear the Potions Master scream. Tonight he got his wish.

Snapes mouth trembled and a hoarse scream of pain and terror finally parted blood soaked lips. The Dark Lord grinned, the expression contorting his face. "Finally had enough, Severus?"

With the question Severus's arched back fell flat against the floor of the throne room. He panted and leveled his gaze on the ceiling of the room. He had no strength for a reply. His limbs twitched with the remnants of the curse and he had no control over the spastic movements. Licking split lips he gave the briefest of replies as his voice cracked. "Yes, My Lord. 'M sorry for having displeased you."

In an almost flippant gesture the Dark Lord dismissed what he perceived as groveling. "There are more pressing matters, Severus."

"My Lord?" Severus managed to pull himself into a kneeling position.

"Yes, you are not the only one to have displeased me of late." With a wave of his wand the door at the back of the throne room banged open and Bellatrix Lestrange entered the room in halting jerky small movements, none of her normal swooping grace lingering.

"My Lord!" She bowed every few steps, under her own accord, fighting the frantic pace she was using to cross the room. Tremendous loyalty and devotion evident in her deeply disturbed eyes. "It was never my intention to displease you My Lord!"

Severus scoffed at the similarities between he pleas and his own. While his attention was diverted the Dark Lord muttered a malice filled. "_Imperio!"_And Severus felt the mindless response of his own body under the Imperius Curse.

Standing side by side a _"Diffindo"_ removed both of the wizards garments. They were at the mercy of whatever the depraved mind of the mad man wanted them to do. Their punishment came in the form of the voyeuristic tendencies of the Dark Lord and was meant to belittle and shame both of the non-consenting parties. With small jabs of his wand and muttered commands the Dark Lord made both witch and wizard bend to his every detailed delight.

Severus's lips was twitching in what would have been a sneer of disgust had he even been in control of his own facial expressions, instead there was something of lust and desire plastered in a flirtatious grin. He held nothing against Bella, not even the fact that she had grown up a Black after all there were some things people had no control over, and she was an attractive woman. An act such as this should have given rise to feelings of pleasure, relaxation and joy, but when every fiber of ones being fought against it, the act of seduction was a tiresome and came with a heavy mental anguish.

Snapes mind reeled and he found himself in his own mind floating away, running the course of the maze. The worst thing about the Imperius Curse besides having no control over one's own actions, was being forced to not only watch what was taking place, but holding the secret of the vivid memories of what you did while under the curses power. Guilt was the strongest after effect, which made it a very useful form of torture and punishment. Severus would find his escape, her was only a few twists and turns away from the right door.

The Dark Lord made a sharp tisking sound and barked an order. "No Severus, there will be no escape for you, no hiding away like a spineless little Hufflepuff."

Snape snapped fully conscious of his actions at the Dark Lord's command. Mentally he swore, he'd almost given away his most important secret. Still even if the Dark Lord held the knowledge of where his secrets were hidden, the vile beast couldn't gain access to them, though Severus had come very close to giving him a fair chance. He mentally checked himself, having little choice but to focus on his forced actions. "Of course not My Lord, I am no coward."

The Dark Lord had a twisted smirk of glee on his thin lips. "You must be enjoying yourselves."

And neither witch or wizard had any pause or leeway to disagree. Caught in a forced embrace, a coerced lip lock, the two became one being. The fornication was painful on both sides as each was forced to be rough and unforgiving, yet their bodies responded as if each feather light caress, each frantic movement was pure ecstasy. Severus hated himself at the moment Bellatrix Black had been a friend before she was even a Lestrange. Bella to her credit fought the cruse for at least a moment, she was enthralled with only the Dark Lord now. She belonged to him, body, broken mind, heart and soul. Neither party took any pleasure in this except for the one who was watching it.

They fell together again and again and again. Three lurid times. Severus tried to remain blank about it though he was covered in a thin sheen of sweat from excursion. Bella was in desperate tears and the Dark Lord was laughing about the whole thing. "Had enough?"

"Yes My Lord." Came two short and pleading replies. With a flick of the Dark Lords wand the two knelt before him, fully clothed. Sweat plastered long strands of hair to both of their faces and Severus found himself free to raise his hand to brush it out of his eyes. He had been freed of the Imperius, but oddly his body shuddered as if he had been under the Cruciatus curse.

Bella moved in small motions and her hand lingered tracing a light trail down Severus's cheek to the underside of his jaw. She titled his face towards her own and forced him into a kiss. Severus pulled away almost roughly only to collide with the Dark Lords knee. Slim fingers curled under Severus's chin forcing him to meet the Dark Lords eye. "Enjoy yourself?"

Severus faltered for a moment a bad taste at the back of his throat. Any answer given was a risk at this point, displease the master or insult the masters paramour. Feeling sick Severus nodded slightly. "Of course My Lord."

"Good," The Dark Lord's face broke into a pleased slime his eyes holding a glint of something other then contentment as he squeezed the face between his fingers. He was interrupted by a flourish behind him.

Slightly behind the Dark Lord stood a masked Death Eater shaking with his own rage. "Advara-"

There was a flash of green light aimed at Severus, but the Dark Lord reacted far too quick. _"Crucio!"_ And the masked Death Eater fell to the floor screaming in agony. "It seems Mr. Nott suspected you of betraying both myself and Bellatrix. Nott questioned your loyalties Severus."

Severus let out a shuddering sigh that questioned loyalties only came in the form of infidelity. A smirk of a smile flitted on his lips hearing Nott's screams, the man had tried to kill him over Bella? Severus simply shook his head. Nott was married but a widower, and Severus had the displeasure of teaching his child come Monday morning. Theodore would pay dearly for his fathers sins, detention with Argus Filch was quite fitting.

"Severus?" The Dark Lords voice gave Severus pause and he teetered back into the waiting hand returning to cup his chin.

"My Lord?" Came Severus's panted reply.

"Remember She does belong to me." The Dark Lord's eyes flicked to Bellatrix who was resting her head in the Dark Lord's lap toying with her hair and twisting it about her fingers.

"Always, My Lord." Severus bowed his head. "Always."

The Dark Lord nodded. _"Crucio!"_

Severus's startled scream mixed with that of Nott's who was still under the effect of the curse.

* * *

Deep concern creased Dumbledore's brow as he watched Harry's fitful sleep. The boy convulsed as if under the Cruciatus curse. The Head Master had long ago placed a Disillusionment Charm and a slight Glamor on Harry's bed so that anyone looking for him would see the boy sleeping peacefully and suddenly have an urge to go the bathroom rather then speak to him. Dumbledore's cool hand rested on Harry's forehead, a momentary comfort before his scar bust open and blood dripped down into his eyes. Harry's eyes flew open but he could barely see with the blood dripping in his eyes and the lack of his glasses. He reached out for them on the bedside table but there were no glasses, in fact no table at his side.

"NO!" With a gasp he sat up clinging to the wrist of the hand that had been on his head. "Professor?"

"Yes Harry?" Dumbledore's low voice was close to him.

Harry winched angrily using the back of his hand to scrub the wetness of tears from his face. "No, sir . . . what I mean to say sir . . .Professor Snape!" Harry's grip around the Head Master's hand was frantic, too hard.

Dumbledore looked down at the distraught boy perplexed for a moment, before understanding flickered in his eyes. "You a vision. Yes Processor Snape was summoned tonight shortly after the lesson you had with him."

"He-" Harry flung himself at the Head Master burring his face in the folds of his robes in a fit of tears. "Someone has to go get him!"

Dumbledore glanced over his shoulder at an old grandfather clock in the far corner of the room. It was reminiscent of the clock the Wesley's had in their kitchen except there were numerous hands on it each representing a member of the Order. While a woeful too many pointed to deceased, two such hands held pictures of both of Harry's parents, the one with Severus's picture pointed non-threateningly to a simple word, Meeting. There was no distinguishing between and Order meeting or a Death Eater meeting. Still Dumbledore was sure the Potions Master was safe as his hand showed no inclination of movement.

"Professor Snape is fine, my boy." Dumbledore moved a reassuring hand to Harry's shoulder.

"No." Harry struggled to untangle himself from the confines of the blankets. His voice was shaky and raw from screaming. He reached out for Dumbledore's shoulders, he had to get the elder wizard to understand him. "Nott . . . he was there. He cast the killing curse! There was the same green light that I see with my Mom when there are Dementors around." Harry leaned over the side of the bed and despite his feelings toward the Potions Master was violently ill.

Dumbledore waved his wand and the mess was cleaned up without a word. He then forced Harry's glasses into his hands. "Put your glasses on Harry I want to show you something."

Dumbledore allowed Harry to lean on him to get out of the bed and up on to his feet. He guided Harry over to his clock and pointed out Severus Snape's picture. "Do you believe me now, son?"

Harry's knees almost gave way, he was not steady from the after effects of the Cruciatus curse and seeing the pictures of his parents pointing in no uncertain terms to death was too much. His vision swam and for more then a moment he completely forgot why the Head Master had brought him to see the time piece in the first place. Harry's hand rose to the face of the clock lightly filtering over his parents pictures before his fingers found Snape's picture. "I know what I saw . . ." Harry sighed tears flowing once again but not for the Potions Master, but his own personal loss.

"Please send someone Professor Dumbledore." Harry found he could not meet the Head Master's eyes, but needed his support to make it back to the bed. Looking around through his glasses now Harry was confused. "Sir where are we?"

"My personal quarters Harry." Dumbledore waved the look of awe on the young Griffindor's face away dismissively and his eyes twinkled. "Would you feel better if I went to meet him at his appartation point?"

Harry's pale face nodded eagerly. "Please sir." Harry groaned as his head spun with the simple motion. His whole body ached as if he had been Cruciated for hours.

"Well then I must get you to the hospital wing and Madame Pomfrey's care before heading off the grounds."

Harry moved to join Dumbledore by the floo, but never made it to the fireplace. He took a few hesitant and shaky steps before he collapsed to the floor unconscious again. Dumbledore collected the boy and floo'ed into the hospital wing.

"Poppy?" The Headmaster called to the matron while depositing Harry gently on one of the beds.

Madame Pomfrey shuffled sleep laden from her office, she had dozed while going over the charts for the day after having discharged all of the wards patients. "Merlin's Pants Albus! What has the boy gotten into now?"

Madame Pomfrey moved to Harry's bedside running diagnostic spells and putting a healing salve to the raw scare on his forehead.

"Mr. Potter has had a very disturbing vision interrupt his dreams tonight and seems to be suffering from the aftereffects of the Cruciatus curse. Severus was summoned earlier tonight and I fear he has fallen to the same ailment. I am off to meet him outside the wards of the grounds. I have it on very good authority that you will find yourself with another patient tonight." Seeing that Harry was in Madame Pomfrey's capable hands and since he'd promised the boy, Dumbledore nodded to the matron and swept from the room heading out of the castle.

* * *

Severus Snape disapparted and found himself gladly back within the sights of Hogwarts Castle. He'd gone no more then a few shaky steps before a tree root tripped him up and he crashed to his knees, the muscles in his legs had no strength left to hold him. He closed his eyes and swore bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose where a headache pounded making his vision blur.

"Language Severus!" The light hearted voice of the Head Master greeted him, hand he opened his eyes he was sure that there would be a goofy grin to accompany the scolding.

"Albus?" Snape heaved a deep and somewhat difficult breath before tilting his head up and opening watery eyes to behold the Head Master still in his night clothes. Snape found himself smirking and lowered his head to his chest to hide the moment of weakness. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" Snape sneered complete with a raised questioning eyebrow.

"None of you're cheek, my boy. I had to promise young Harry that I would meet you here or the boy would not surrender to Madame Pomfrey's care."

Snape's gaze snapped to the Head Master's face as he used the support of the tree that had tripped him to pull himself up to his feet. "And what was the brats protest?" Exhaustion took all of the malice out of the sneer as Snape ran a twitching hand over his face.

"Harry seemed to be under the impression that you were killed tonight. Is there a valid reason for his worry?"

"Indeed." Snape began to walk toward the gates of Hogwarts. "I am here due to a lack of Nott being able to rid the world of my presence." Dumbledore fell into step with Snape, knowing he would not be comfortable taking help, but that the older wizard would be there if he was needed.

Worry creased Snape's brow and did nothing to help the pounding in his head. Harry Potter had already seen one of Snape's most horrible memories, he did not need the embarrassment of the boy having seen his forced transgressions this night to add to it. He had to clear his throat hard before he was able to produce a scratchy ghost of his normally silky deep voice. "Did he say what he saw?"

Dumbledore shook his head diminutively. "Nothing much at all, he was more worked up over your safe return then anything else. He insisted I go and fetch you and return you to the castle." Dumbledore place a guiding hand on Snape's arm.

Snape shrugged the hand off only to stumble again and feel the Head Master catch him by the crook of his elbow. "I am more then capable of returning under my own power Albus, you should tell him that."

A smile on his lips that was mirrored in his twinkling eyes Dumbledore shook his head laughter evident in his voice. "As you say you are, my boy." He gave Snape's arm a light squeeze. "But I am afraid you will need to tell Harry yourself. He didn't even trust my clock." Dumbledore regarded Snape with a look that said that was the most ridiculous thing in the world.

Snape halted his steps, his eyes growing wide and grabbed Dumbledore by the shoulder. "You showed Potter the clock?"

"Indeed I did Severus, and he still insisted I come out to meet you." Dumbledore nodded and gave a dismissive shrug.

Snape shook his head. "Potter is in the Hospital wing, I assume?"

Dumbledore nodded his head again. "Harry passed out again after his vision."

They had reached the main doors which swung open welcoming them. Snape welcome the warmth of the castle and longed to simply head down to his rooms in the dungeon rather then heading up to the hospital wing. The warmth reached the very debts of his bones, only alerting him to how exhausted he was. Snape shuddered from cold and curse alike. And silently accompanied Dumbledore to the hospital wing.

"Severus Snape!" Madame Pomfrey's glare was none too kind as she moved from Harry's bed to his side. "Into bed with you." She patted a cot across from Harry.

"Merlin's Beard, no. Poppy, I want to go to be, in my own bed." Snape stood next to the cot arms crossed indignantly. "I simply came to reassure the boy of my well being."

Dumbledore chuckled taking a seat next to the cot that had been indicated by Poppy.

"You need potions and sleep." Madame Pomfrey returned from her stores with numerous potions for Snape to take.

Raising that brow again Snape humphed, not budging an inch toward the bed. "I brewed these myself, I am quite capable of administering the proper doses to myself."

"And how many are left in your stores?" Madame Pomfrey met Snape's glare with a mirrored look.

"I-," Snape's top lip curled in revulsion.

"Just what I thought Severus. Now into bed, you may speak with Mr. Potter in the morning." Madame Pomfrey flicked her wand and Snape wore a pair of stripped pajama's.

Snape dove into the bed eager to hide the hideous night clothes, grumbling all the way. The grumbling gave way to groans and swoons and the Potions Master chewed his bottom lip. "I have classes to teach in the morning." A trembling hand raised the first of many vials to his torn lips.

"And you will need to rest if you intend to keep up that impeccable attendance streak of yours and be present to teach it. Now quit fussing." Madame Pomfrey Handed him the next potion.

"I do not fuss." Snape rolled his eyes.

Dumbledore covered up a snicker with a yawn. "Now that you are all settled, even Head Masters of Schools need some sleep. I'll see you both at breakfast."

As Dumbledore left the room Snape's gaze fell on the boy sleeping fretfully across the way from him. "Poppy did you give him a Drought of Dreamless Sleep?"

The matron allowed her gaze to follow Severus's and she nodded. "As well as a Drought of peace, a Calming Drought and one of your Cruciatus antidotes."

Harry let out a moan as his body twitched under the covers.

Snape scowled. "Can I cast a silencing charm on him if I must sleep here?"

"Absolutely not!" Madame Pomfrey shook her head and winked at him. "Once you're equally dosed up you'll be none the wiser."

"Wonderful." Snape sneered downing potions in order of effectiveness before righteous rage faded from him and he too drifted off to sleep.

* * *

AN: Figured that I'd get out what I managed to pull together this weekend. I got an Internship as a Medical Assistant which is taking up much of my time, it was easier to write while I was still in school. Anyway I hope this was worth the wait! Let me know what you think because this is really just the beginning, trust me:) 


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