Harry glared. After all, it isn’t fair to be expected to hold a phenomenal amount of magic in your hands while the person who told you how to conjure it has burst into giggles.

Eventually, Shadow managed to get a hold of himself, though his green eyes were still sparkling with mischief. By this point Harry was starting to feel more than a little panicked. The small globe of magical energy was starting to feel awfully hot in his hands.

“Help me! You told me to put this here, now tell me how to get rid of it!” Harry yelped, praying that Snape wouldn’t take this moment to come and check up on him.

Still laughing a little Shadow climbed off the bed and hurried over to the mirror version of Harry’s trunk and opened the lid. Harry watched, shocked, as Shadow pulled out a roll of parchment and a blue biro, preparing to write Harry a message.

“Shadow,” Harry said; his voice low and dangerous. “Do you mean to tell me you could have written to me earlier? When you really needed to explain something in precise terms to me?”

Shadow looked a little guilty, but smirked and nodded while smoothing the parchment out on the floor on his side of the mirror.

“Are you trying to wind me up?”

Still smirking, Shadow held up his thumb and forefinger a measured inch from each other.

Harry growled low in his throat and the orb in his hands sparked a little. Swallowing hard, Harry concentrated on the magic, and tried to keep both it and his temper dormant. It seemed the two were interlinked, and Harry shuddered to think of what might happen if he wasn’t careful.

Eventually, Harry looked up and saw Shadow pressing the piece of parchment up to his side of the glass. Harry leaned forward eagerly and tried to read it. His brow wrinkled in confusion. It was covered with unintelligible swiggles.

“Shadow, I can’t read this…” Harry’s voice trailed off as he gaped at the message. “It’s all backwards!”

The brown-haired boy pulled the paper away from the mirror, looked at it, and cursed silently.

“Never mind about that, re-write it quickly! I think I can hold onto this until then. In fact,” Harry’s frown deepened, “it’s getting easier, the longer I hold it.” It was true. The longer he held it, settled in his hands, the more natural it felt. The furious heat had cooled a little and now the orb almost felt like an extension of his body. Harry smiled; in a way, it was.

Shadow smirked and held the rewritten message up for Harry to read a moment later. The letters were large and wonky, and some were still backwards, but it was readable.

Harry squinted and read, “You needed to learn on your own, if I had used too much… detail in explaining how to c… conjure your power, you would have had… great difficulty in reaching your magic. To get rid of the magic, you must use it. What! Use it for what?”

Shadow dropped the parchment and pretended to bash his head against the other side of the mirror.

“All right!” Harry grumbled. “I’ll think of something…” The terrible heat of the magic had calmed a little more, but it was still uncomfortable to hold. How is it that whenever I need to think of a spell, my mind goes blank?

Finally, one thing floated to the front of his mind, and after he had thought of it, it seemed so obvious that Harry almost copied Shadow.

He cleared his throat. “So, to cast this, do I just say what I want? It doesn’t feel like the kind of magic that can be controlled by a spell,” Harry said thoughtfully. Shadow shrugged, but Harry was already speaking. “I want to be able to hear Shadow!”

Nothing happened.

Shadow grabbed the parchment and scribbled down three words. Harry leaned forward to read it again.

“Use an order… All right then.” He looked at the ball of molten gold in his hands. “Make me able to hear Shadow!”

Still nothing happened.

Utterly frustrated, Harry stared hard at the orb and snarled. “Let – Me – Hear – Shadow!”

A swirl of gold snapped off and disappeared, and Harry gasped. He had actually physically felt the magic separate and be used – more magic than a normal spell would use, but not the entire orb. The orb in question, sensing he had no other use for it, shivered and sank back into his palm, fusing again with his magical core.

Harry sat, shaking and staring at his hands, simultaneously feeling adrenaline and exhaustion accompanying the first use of his pure magic, and being completely awed by it. So much so, that for many minutes, he could only sit and take shivering breaths as he felt the remnants of the magic dancing in his blood, and the uncontrollable fatigue that accompanied it.

Eventually, the feeling of magic faded and Harry was left feeling drained and sleepy. His only wish was to able to curl up and sleep for a week. Thank goodness I’m sick; I couldn’t cope with anything else right now, Harry thought as he slipped under the covers; taking off his glasses and closing his eyes.

‘Hi, Harry.’ A young voice sounded throughout the room.

Jumping in shock, Harry sat up and looked wildly around him, but he only saw Shadow waving at him.

And then, it clicked. Shadow!

‘It worked, Harry!’ Shadow told him happily, before concern coloured his eyes a little. ‘Go to sleep, it’s probably drained you. Sorry.’

“That’s OK, Shadow,” Harry mumbled as he slid back down under the duvet, smiling.

‘Oh, and Harry?’

“Hmm?” Harry blearily opened one eye and peeped at the mirror.

Shadow grinned. ‘Thanks, Harry. Thanks so much!’

HPSSHPSSHPSS

It had taken several hours to clean up the lab, not to mention that he had had to decant and bottle the potion that had been left there since the night before. And then, on top of that, he had had to brew another batch for Pomfrey in case the first was faulty from being left in the open air for so long.

Eventually, Severus hauled himself out of the lab, back stiff and eyes tired. I really hope Potter doesn’t chose tonight to cause mischief. With the mood I’m in, he’d be lucky if I tied him to the bedposts and left him there ‘til morning! Rubbing his eyes, Severus made his way to the kitchen and quickly made up some soup that he could hopefully have Potter eat in a relatively short space of time.

Severus settled everything on a tray and levitated it up behind him, leaving his hands free to rub his eyes again. Far too much has happened today. Is it really only August the First? First Potter, then Albus; those two are enough to drive any sane man to the limits in under an hour, let alone twenty four!

He had just reached Potter’s door when he heard the boy’s voice ring out from the other side of it.

“Am I going to be that wiped out every time, Shadow?”

A pause. Severus shook his head, intensely puzzled. Who in the world was Potter talking to? Stepping closer, he pressed his ear against the door and listened harder.

“Well, that’s no good! I suppose it’s one of those things that have to be worked on, eh? Oh well, I’ll give it another go after supper… If Snape feeds me, that is!”

Having had enough, Severus grabbed the door handle and flung open the door, hoping to catch Potter and whatever accomplice he had gained red handed.

Then the door was open and Severus looked towards the bed to see… Potter lying on his back, fast asleep.

Severus pressed his fingers to his temples and rubbed hard. Far too much has happened today, I really must be losing it! Floating the tray in, Severus closed the door behind him and advanced on the bed. A closer examination of Potter proved that he really did seem to be what he appeared to be – fast asleep. A check under the bed, in the wardrobe, and finally, the bathroom revealed no intruders and the windows were still charmed to not open more than an inch.

Severus looked back towards the bed containing the little devil in cherub’s clothing. The only explanation is that either I’m going barmy, or Potter talks in his sleep… I’m not sure which option is the most preferable.

With a wave of his wand, the tray was set on the bedside table. Severus stepped over to the bed and looked down at the sleeping boy. He really is easier to handle when he’s asleep… and he looks so much younger too. For the first time, Severus felt a strong trickle of concern at how thin the boy was. He’s my responsibility now, and I’ll make sure that he’s properly looked after – whether he wants it or not! Severus was surprised at how his thoughts didn’t create feelings of disgust or panic in him, as he’d expected. He decided not to examine the reasons why not too closely.

“Potter, Potter.” He reached out and shook the boy’s shoulder gently. After all, he didn’t want him falling out of bed in shock, did he? “Potter, wake up. Don’t think you can escape having your supper that easily, boy!”

The green eyes snapped open and stared at him in shock, but the boy made no other move. Severus realised that he still had his hand on the boy’s shoulder and withdrew it quickly.

“Your supper,” he said, jutting his chin at the tray.

Potter swallowed. “Thank you, sir,” he muttered, not looking at his teacher. Severus felt a spike of irritation at his insolence, but decided to let it slide. This time.

The soup disappeared at a surprising rate, given Potter’s slow consumption of lunch. Evidently liquidised food is the way forward… maybe liquidised sprouts next time! Severus suppressed an evil smirk at the idea. He would really love to feed disgusting substances to Potter under the pretence that it was ‘for his own good’. After all, Potter still owed Severus for knocking him out in the Shrieking Shack.

Potter placed his spoon back in his empty bowl with a sigh. After a second of silence, he looked up at his teacher from under his lashes, as if gauging what kind of reaction his next words were going to have.

“Thank you, sir. Do you do the cooking here? It’s really good.”

The boy flinched, as though expecting a blow, but did not lower his gaze. Severus blinked, surprised and pleased by the boy’s words, and for a second, he did not know what to say in reply.

“Yes, I do. But seeing as I am a Potions Master, that information should not be all that surprising to you.” Severus gave a condescending sneer to try and cover up his puzzlement.

“Oh!” The boy straightened, his eyes sparkling a little. “I can cook too, maybe…” The boy blushed. “Maybe when I’m allowed up, I can make something to repay you?”

Severus glared. “You’re going to have to try harder than that if you wish to poison me, Potter!” he snapped.

Potter sighed and crossed his arms, but didn’t say anything further. A low thunk resounded throughout the room; like a large bird had hit a window a long way away. Severus head snapped up.

“What was that?” he rapped out, staring at Potter, who had gone milk-white the moment Severus had spoken.

“I- I don’t know, sir.”

Severus gave him a sour look – it was obvious the boy was hiding something – and strode over to the window, staring outside for any sign of what had made the noise. Seeing nothing, he took the charm preventing the window from opening more than an inch off and opened it wide, peering down onto the porch roof below. Nothing.

Puzzled and frustrated, Severus shut the window and turned back towards the bed. Potter was staring at the mirror and shaking his head. Even as Severus watched, the boy lifted one his hands and massaged at the back of his neck.

Noticing Severus watching him, he dropped his hand. “Do you have any muscle relaxing potions, sir? I think I slept on my neck funny.”

Severus huffed. “I’ll see what I have in my stores, Potter. If there is nothing there, you’ll just have to bear your great pain,” he hissed at his student, letting some of his frustration regarding the whole day shine through. He considered himself to have been quite restrained so far, compared to what he could have said.

Potter flushed at his words and looked down. “It’s OK, you don’t have to,” he mumbled, his tone making Severus seethe. Before he could open his mouth to say anything in reply though, Potter had looked up at him again with a pleading look in his eyes. “Please, Professor. Could I please be allowed out of bed sometimes? I’ve been in bed all day today and I don’t think I need to rest my ankle much any more. It’s feeling much better and I’ll be really careful, I promise!”

Severus blinked. It was quite possibly the most the boy had said to him the whole day. He frowned, considering his options; he could just keep the boy confined to his bed just to spite him. Unfortunately, Potter had this annoying habit of driving people who disagreed with him to distraction and Severus had quite enough on his plate at the moment. Besides, it was likely the ankle needed exercise to heal further…

“Show me your ankle!”

Potter obliged so quickly that Severus had to blink. Potter never obeyed anything Severus told him to do quickly. The right motivation will work wonders, Severus thought wryly as he walked around to the other side of the bed. He proceeded to check the ankle and found, to his surprise, that most of the heat and the swelling had gone down. It was further healed than he would have thought possible at this point.

But then, Potter has always healed quickly. Severus looked up into those big, green eyes and sighed.

“Very well. I shall remove the spell, but if I find that you have been out of this bed for any reason other than it being completely necessary, you will find yourself stuck to this bed for a week!”

Potter didn’t look very upset by his last words. On the contrary, he was even smiling a little at Severus. What the blazes has got into the boy? He never acts this cheerful at Hogwarts! Actually, he does, but never around me! What has got into him?

Shaking his head, Severus grabbed the tray and made to leave.

“If you sleep well tonight, I might let you down to the library tomorrow to do your homework. Don’t even try to pretend that you’ve started it, yet!” Why did I say that? I don’t want him in my library! Merlin knows what he might get up to in there on his own. You’ve just confined yourself to the library for as long as he’s in there tomorrow. You idiot!

Bewildered at his words, Severus shut the door behind him and leaned against it. Maybe he really was losing it. An image of another pair of green eyes, their owner smiling at him, swam before his mind’s eye. Gritting his teeth, Severus vanished the tray. It was not fair that the only thing left of Lily in this world had to look like James Potter.