Harry ran to his first class, knowing already that he would be late. He skidded to a stop in front of the Potions classroom, gasping for breath as he held the door knob with a shaky hand. He hated feeling so nervous over seeing Snape. He still wasn’t sure if Snape had blocked the burning in his scar or if something else had blocked it. Maybe it was just the magical spells of the castle? This castle had always offered him a true sanctuary. It was the only home he had ever truly known. He rebelliously let himself consider this castle his home, pushing Dumbledore’s warnings to the back of his mind.

He took a deep breath and gathered enough courage to enter the classroom and face Snape.

As soon as he entered the room Snape stopped lecturing and turned his intimidating glower in Harry’s direction. Harry rushed to find a seat but was stopped before he had a chance to sit.

“Potter, you are late. If you can not manage to be here on time then you will not be permitted to enter… hero or not. Now, out!” Snape pointed to the door and waited.

Harry didn’t want to do this but he really didn’t have any other choice. He rummaged through his book bag until he found the note from Pomfrey.

“I have a note,” Harry said, feeling the burning in his scar lessen. As soon as he stood before the potion master he felt the burn in the scar disappear. His hand flew up to his scar just as Snape grabbed hold of his own forearm.

Snape took several steps back, rubbing the sharp burn coming from the dark mark on his arm, “Read it,” he managed to say through clenched teeth.

It took Harry a moment to react. “It’s-it’s from …,” He didn’t want to say the name on the note out loud, not in front of Hermione and the whole class. He gave Snape a pleading look hoping the man would understand. Then again, he should have known better.

“Just read it, Potter!” Snape snapped out in a voice that brooked no room for argument.

Harry stepped back thinking he may have made a mistake in entering the classroom, “I’ll leave instead.”

“Just read the blasted note, Potter!” Snape lunged forward and grabbed the back of Potter’s robe, infuriated that the teen was being so disobedient. An excruciating pain shot through his arm and straight to the dark mark on his arm causing him to release the boy abruptly. His hand clamped over the dark mark as he tried to smother the pain.

Harry could see how livid Snape was getting. The man looked like he was ready to blow a fuse, much like Uncle Vernon looked before he struck out. He stuck a finger down his shirt collar so he could breath again.

“Yes, sir,” Harry stammered, breaking the seal on the note and unrolling it with trepidation.

“I-it’s from Madame Pomfrey,” he gave Hermione a quick glance, noticing how worried she suddenly looked. He saw Malfoy smiling with delight. Looking back down at the note, Harry reluctantly began to read.

“It just says ‘Dear Severus,” Harry had to swallow his laughter over saying that name out loud. He ignored the giggles from the class as he continued, “Please excuse Mr. Potter for being late to class. His uncle…,” Harry abruptly stopped reading, refusing to say out loud what the medi-witch had written. He felt himself break out into a nervous sweat and his face burned with shame.

By this point Snape was not feeling very generous towards the Potter brat. Not only was the attention seeking little monster making a mockery of his class but the Potter brat somehow seemed to be causing his dark mark to flare in excruciating pain. He didn’t even try to stop Draco when the Slytherin reached out and snatched the note out of Potter’s hands.

Draco darted out of Harry’s reach and began to read the note out loud,

That was as far as the Slytherin had read before he was tackled. Harry knocked Malfoy to the floor, wrestling the note out of his tight grip. The class cheered them on. Harry landed one good punch and felt great satisfaction when the Slytherin let slip a high pitched yelp.

“Give it here, ferret faced git!” Harry growled. He snatched the note and gave Malfoy one last shove.

“Enough! Twenty points from Gryffindor and detention for a week, Potter!” Snape held his hand out, “Now, hand over that note!”

“But, what about what Malfoy did?” Harry complained, enraged with the whole fiasco. “You should take points from him too!”

“That is not for you to decide!” Severus whipped out his wand and silently called forth the note.

Harry tried to make a grab for the parchment as it flew out of his hand and into Snape’s hand. When he realized his attempt was futile his hands fell to his sides and balled up with anxiety.

Severus unrolled the note and read it silently to himself. He raised an eyebrow in consternation. Now he understood why Potter had not wanted to read it out loud.

“Potter, sit. I’ve enough of your interruptions.”

Harry sat down, glaring at Malfoy as he passed by his table. Malfoy looked quite delighted with himself.

As soon as class ended Hermione was at Harry’s side.

“Harry, why did you see Madame Pomfrey? Why didn’t you just read the note and be done with it?”

“Because it’s my business!”

“What exactly did the note say?”

“Just leave it, Hermione,” Harry started to say just before Malfoy bumped into him as he walked past with a few of his Slytherin friends.

“I know what it says,” Draco taunted in a sing-song voice. “I’ll tell you, Mudblood, if you ask me nicely?”

“Shut it, Malfoy,” Harry snapped out, wanting nothing more than to punch the Slytherin in the face again.

Malfoy smiled and pretended to be unrolling an invisible note, “Please excuse Mr. Potter for being late to class. His Uncle injured him far worse than I had thought,” Malfoy jumped back when Harry took a punch at him but continued reciting, “He is in need of a nutritional supplement to off-set the malnutrition …”

Harry pulled his wand out, ready to curse the Slytherin into silence with a tongue tie hex when a sharp voice stopped him.

“Potter, cease this instant!” Snape snapped his fingers and pointed to his office, “Get in there now!” The potion master’s angry gaze lessened as he looked toward the three Slytherin, “Off with you three, you do not want to be late for class.” Then he discreetly added, “Mr. Malfoy, discretion is an essential advantage.”

Draco’s smile disappeared when he realized Snape was telling him not to tell anyone else about Potter. Then again, he didn’t have to listen to everything Snape said.

Harry watched as Malfoy gave him a smug smile and a wink before turning to leave with his friends. Merlin, he knew the whole school would find out about Uncle Vernon before the end of the day.

Hermione looked as if she were unsure what to do but Snape settled her indecision for her.

“Get going, Ms. Granger, before I assign you detention for a week.”

Hermione gave Harry an apologetic look before running towards the staircase. It certainly wouldn’t be a good precedence to start the new school year out with a detention.

Snape used the tip of his wand to prod the boy into his office. As soon as his wand touched Potter’s back a bright spark shot out of the tip of his wand.

Harry yelped and turned accusing eyes up at his teacher, “What the…?!”

Snape was momentarily baffled. He had no idea what had just happened. He stepped away from the abnormal boy and scowled, “What do you think you are doing, Potter!? Whatever spell… practical joke you are attempting to execute will cease this instant!”

Harry looked confused as he tried to follow whatever Snape was accusing him of, “I don’t know what you mean. I haven’t done anything!”

Snape stepped forward and touched the tip of his wand to Potter’s chest, “Finite Incantatum!” The boy let out a shriek when another spark involuntarily ignited.

“What the hell is your problem?!” Harry yelled out as he rubbed at the newly healed rib that was now throbbing with pain.

“Language, Potter! Another ten points from Gryffindor,” Severus snapped out.

He pocketed his wand as he tried to reason out what spell the boy had used to cause such a reaction. He eyed the teen suspiciously, watching as the boy pressed a hand tenderly against his injured ribs. Perhaps the boy didn’t have anything to do with this odd predicament? Perhaps this spell was coming from elsewhere?

“Sit,” Severus commanded as he walked around behind his desk, contemplating all the rationale explanations he could come up with. He looked back to see the Potter brat defiantly disobeying his order. Obnoxious dunderhead was just like his father!

“Sit down,” Snape growled out, his irritation with the boy was edging to a hazardous level. The boy’s defiant look turned to one of rage, however the boy did sit.

Snape crossed his arms over his chest and stared down into insolent green eyes. Perhaps he would need to go about finding the cause to these odd occurrences the hard way. He stepped closer, ignoring the intense burning emanating from his dark mark.

Harry closed his eyes and relished in the absence of pain as Snape stepped closer. It was almost worth hanging out in Snape’s dungeon just to get rid of the ache in his head. The professor’s accusing tone of voice made him rethink that last idea.

“Potter, does everyone’s wand react that way to you?”

“No.”

“That is ‘no sir‘, to you,” Severus corrected.

“No, sir,” Harry grudgingly repeated.

“Just my wand reacts that way then?”

Harry nodded, then frowned when the Potion Master stepped to the far side of the room with his back to him, causing the pain in his head to start to creep back in. He rubbed at his forehead before dropping his head into his hands. This whole thing was so confusing and he was so bloody tired. He felt like he hadn’t slept in months. He couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped his lips when he realized it HAD been months since he’d slept.

Severus spun around on his heel when he heard the boy laughing, “What the hell are you doing, Potter!?! What spell have you cast?!”

“None,” Harry replied in a weary voice. “I swear I’ve not done anything, …sir.”

Severus cast a silent Legitemens spell at the boy. It became obvious to him that the boy was telling the truth.

He had already deduced the only connection he had with the boy was through his Dark Mark and the boy’s scar, both given to them by the same person: Voldemort. The part he couldn’t figure out was what spell had been cast, nor could he ascertain whom the caster was.

The spell was far too powerful to have been cast by a mere fifth year student. It had to have been cast by someone who excelled in Charms. The connection suddenly became very obvious, it had to have been Lily.

“Do you know why it‘s happening?” Harry hesitantly asked, finding some sort of comfort in not being the only one attacked by Voldemort. “I don’t know why, but he stops attacking me when I’m around you.” The fierce expression his professor gave him made him rear back.

Severus took in a deep breath, then cursed. How the bloody hell had she done this? Why the bloody hell had Lily done this? Why had it taken so long to discover this connection? But he already knew the answer to that, it was due to the fact that the Dark Lord had just recently risen again. In other words, there had never been a reason for him to shield the boy from the Dark Lord… until now.