Just as the sun crept up over the horizon, Severus found himself suddenly drenched in what felt like a barrel-full of ice water.

Choking and spluttering – but at least having the presence of mind not to scream – Severus glared up at his adversary from his previously comfortable nest of leaves. “You had better hope I don’t catch pneumonia, Black. Or had your pea-brain forgotten that we can’t do magic here?”

Black cheerfully dropped the rusting metal bucket he’d foraged from somewhere and bounced over to where the packs were settled. “Don’t complain to me! You said you wanted a wake-up call... only you forgot to mention in what manner.” Black glanced over his shoulder and gave him a cocky grin.

“Imbecile! That’s the last time I ask you for anything!”

“Careful, now, Snape.” Black hunched down beside him and wagged a finger. “If this is the kind of reception I get, I might never do anything you ask me again.”

Severus seethed, clenching his teeth against the flow of vitriol he longed to release. “It is not funny, Black. I’m freezing and will probably develop a cold, which I shall be certain to give directly to you! This is a fine method of repayment for all the times I saved your hide yesterday!”

“Fine, fine!” Black held up his hands and rolled his eyes. “God, Snape, take a joke!”

“I will not, seeing as it was not funny in the slightest!”

“For pity’s sake, live a little!”

Severus’ eyes narrowed. “May I remind you that I currently am in sole custody of a certain Harry Snape, formerly Harry Potter, and can completely ban you from seeing him any time I choose?”

Black’s eyes went wide. “Not fair, Snape! You said I could see him!”

Severus nodded imperiously and cleared his throat. “So long as we understand each other. Now, I’m assuming we’ll need to move before the family in the house wake and come to investigate what has taken up residence behind their shed.” He heaved himself to his feet, and hoisted the packs with him. “Well, Black, are you coming?”

Black growled something uncomplimentary under his breath, then grudgingly muttered, “This way,” and morphed into his dog form, whereupon the grumbling took on the resonance of soft snarls.

In general, despite being rather soggy, Severus was feeling quite good about himself. They had made it into London without major incident or injury, Black was disgruntled about something, and completely unable to talk until they stopped travelling. Things were looking up.

Now, if only they could find somewhere safe to hole up during the day, so they could find a way to spy on the Death Eaters under cover of darkness...

oooOOOooo

Harry stopped at the top of the moving staircase and fidgeted in front of the door to Dumbledore’s office. He knew he should go in, he really did, but something was preventing him from doing so as surely as a brick wall might have.

How should he act? He hadn’t seen the Headmaster on a one-to-one basis since Privet Drive. And somehow Harry felt that bringing up the ‘conditioning’ of your relatives wasn’t the best way to start up a conversation. With anyone. Let alone the person responsible for it. And the time before that... well... it would be for best if everyone forgot about that. But was Dumbledore still expecting him to be furious about it? The note that had summoned him fifteen minutes ago had seemed genial enough, but what if it wasn’t?

Sighing heavily, Harry crossed his fingers in his pocket and knocked sharply on the door. The new phoenix mural winked at him. Harry smiled back, deciding that he liked it already and idly wondering what his father thought of it.

Then Dumbledore called him in and all thoughts of wall paintings (or door paintings in this case) went right out of his head.

He pushed open the door. “Headmaster, you...” he started before he trailed off and stared, dumbfounded, at the person occupying one of the chairs by the fire.

Malfoy sneered in disgust, slammed the book he had been reading and stalked out past Harry without a word, leaving Harry to wonder if stalking was exclusively a Slytherin thing.

Incredulous, he turned to the Headmaster the moment the door had slammed. “What on earth was he doing up here?” he exclaimed loudly, earlier reticence forgotten.

“Well, he is my ward, Harry. He may come up to these rooms whenever he wishes,” Dumbledore said gently, censure evident in his tone, and making Harry remember he was supposed to be angry with the man... or something.

Guiltily, he slunk over to the seat in front of the Headmaster’s desk and muttered a soft, “Sorry, sir,” as he sunk into it.

Dumbledore waved an airy hand, startling Fawkes, who looked up sharply from his perch. Harry smiled at the fire bird as it gave him a gentle warble of greeting before settling back into a doze. The Headmaster smiled and stroked his familiar’s head. “Do not trouble yourself, Harry. I am certain you will remember next time.” Dumbledore paused to look sadly at the vacated chair. “I myself will have to remember to ask young Mr Malfoy to return my book though.”

Harry fidgeted, unsure of what to say to that, and equally unsure if he should take it as another hint. “You wanted to see me?” he asked uncertainly after another moment.

“Ah, yes!” Dumbledore exclaimed, seeming to startle himself out of gazing at the ceiling. “Now, I daresay you have already discovered that your father has been unfortunately called away by duty?”

“Yes. By you,” Harry said, feeling sullen.

Dumbledore at least had the grace to look chagrined. “Yes. However, it is my hope as well as yours that he returns speedily from it. He does lend a certain atmosphere to the castle.” The Headmaster paused and seemed to cock his head to one side as he regarded Harry. “In the mean time, he requested that I take up your tuition in wandless magic. Now, what do you think of that?”

Harry tried to muster up the initial thrilling excitement he had felt when he had first discovered that he could do wandless magic... and hardly came up with anything. Both of the people he associated with that excitement were missing, and without them, what was it but just another lesson he was being forced to learn?

He shrugged. “All right, I suppose.”

Dumbledore appeared to be trying not to smile. “Just all right? Nothing more than that?”

Harry shrugged again.

“Ah.” Dumbledore laced his fingers together. “And what if I were to tell you that I am able to use wandless magic to tell me the exact location of every single Hogwarts’ inhabitant? With the help of her wards, of course. It is rather like that wonderful Map of yours, I think.”

Harry found himself gaping slightly, and not just because Dumbledore knew about the map. He hurriedly shut his mouth. “Everyone?” he asked incredulously. “All at once?” He fell silent and thought for a moment. “You’re spying on people?”

Dumbledore looked torn between laughing and raising his eyes to heaven, but only for a moment. “No, Harry, I am not spying on people.” This time he did allow his mouth to twitch into a smile. “I merely stated that if I so choose, I can link myself directly to the wards and be able to find any person within Hogwarts at any time – like a missing student or hiding staff member. I can’t actually see them. I simply know where they are.”

“Any person?” Harry tried to wrap his mind around the concept. “Can you... can you do it at a distance from the castle? How about someone who you don’t know their name? Could you, say, tell me where Malfoy is now?”

Dumbledore twinkled. “That’s the spirit, Harry.”

Harry tried to glower but was unable to keep it up for long. “It’s still spying.”

The Headmaster let out a chuckle. “If you say so. Now, would you like the answers to your questions?”

Harry perched on the edge of his chair. “Yes, please.”

“Very well. Yes, I can locate any person regardless of whether I know their name. I would know that there’s a person there; I simply would not know who they were. Rather like when there’s someone walking behind you – you know they are there, but not who they are. Of course, if I am familiar with someone’s magical signature, I can pinpoint them. Understand?”

“I think so.” Harry nodded, unsure at which point exactly he’d regained his enthusiasm for the subject matter. Maybe that was another talent of the Headmaster’s. “Where’s Malfoy then?”

Dumbledore huffed a laugh. “I should have known better than try and distract you from him. After spending a couple of fruitless minutes trying to eavesdrop on our conversation, he headed down to the library and is currently engaged in conversation with a person I’m assuming is Miss Pansy Parkinson. Probably complaining about me again,” Dumbledore told Harry conspiratorially. “He thinks I don’t know these things.”

Harry smirked back. “How could anyone not know? It’s what he does best.”

Dumbledore tilted his head to one side. “Maybe one day you will discover that there are more qualities to Mr Malfoy than that.”

“Yeah, like being spoilt. Or snide. He did a brilliant impression of that the other day in the Entrance Hall.”

The Headmaster rubbed his hands together, looking unimpressed with the topic. “I have dealt with the matter you have mentioned accordingly,” he stated peaceably enough to his hands.

“Oh yeah? What did you do to him?” Harry asked viciously, hoping to gather some dirt on the other boy to get him back with.

“I seem to remember talking with your father more than once on the matter of treating a certain boy better than he did,” Dumbledore said, pursing his lips.

Harry shuddered. “Please don’t say Malfoy is going to turn out to be my long lost brother or something.” Besides, I only have one brother. Oh, and you killed him.

The older wizard looked somewhat amused. “No, I can quite safely assure you that you and young Mr Malfoy share no familial connection other than through the same distant connections there are in all pureblood families. Now, you asked me about how distance affected my ability to read the castle’s inhabitants, yes?”

Harry shrugged and let the subject be changed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Distance has always been a factor in magic. The further away you are from an object, the more difficult it is to perform the spell, and I am afraid that I am oblivious to what may be happening inside the castle as soon as I am outside her wards.”

Harry found himself feeling strangely disappointed. Apparently there were limits to even wandless magic. “Oh, OK.”

“Right then,” Dumbledore exclaimed, clapping his hands together once cheerfully. “Let’s see what you can do.” He gestured towards the many instruments that ticked and whirred around the office. “Pick any one you feel drawn to and we shall begin.”

“Wait.” Harry leapt to his feet, and quickly weaved among the little tables they stood upon. “You mean all these – all this time – are objects that help with wandless magic?!”

Dumbledore came and stood behind him. “For the most part, yes. Some of them are just fascinating curios I’ve come across. Now, why don’t you try this one?” He pointed at the table in front of Harry where an ordinary, pale block of... something... sat. “It is fairly simple, and a wonderful way of altering your perceptions of reality.”

Somehow, I think you’re the last person who needs that! Harry thought as he carefully picked it up and held it out. “What should I do with it?”

The Headmaster twinkled. “Improvise.”

Harry ended up spending the better part of an hour struggling to twist the thing into different shapes and altering its colour, leaving him tired and frustrated with his seeming lack of progress. Dumbledore only offered a few of words of praise on the work Harry had done before dismissing him, only pausing to remind him that their weekly lesson time would now be on Sunday afternoons.

Harry’s circular thoughts about the differences between Dumbledore’s method of instructing and Snape’s sent an odd spark of homesickness through him, and he unconsciously turned his feet towards Snape’s office. I was only when he’d already knocked did he remember that he was probably disturbing Remus, but by then it was too late.

“Harry?” The man who’d opened the door leaned against the frame in a typical ‘Lupin’ gesture – something which looked downright weird in Snape’s body. “Come on in.”

Harry apprehensively followed the man inside and closed the door behind him. “Err, I know you said not to come ‘til tomorrow, but I was wondering if I could jus’ go into... Snape’s rooms.”

Remus gave him a tired but happy smile. “Of course you can, Harry. These rooms are more your home than they ever will be mine. I’m afraid I’m just off to a staff meeting, so I can’t keep you company...”

Harry shook his head, almost caught off guard as his long hair bounced around his face. He had to get used to that sometime! “’S’OK, I’ll let myself out afterwards. I just... uh... think I left a book in there,” he quickly invented, suddenly remembering Snape had actually stated in his letter that he wanted Harry to have something in his quarters. “See you tomorrow.”

Remus finished gathering his notes and let himself out the door, raising his hand in a farewell gesture. “Until tomorrow, then. Maybe you can show me how your Patronus Charm is fairing, then?” the man winked at Harry once before hurrying away.

He’s got a point, Harry realised as he pressed the relevant brick. Is Prongs my Patronus anymore?

The rooms folded around him like an old cloak; peaceable and slightly musty. Harry noticed that Remus had been kipping on the sofa, and briefly wondered if that meant the man woke up with a crick in his neck. Shaking his head, he turned and went into his room, hoping Snape had left a clue for him there.

There was indeed a note and an envelope waiting for him on the bed, but nothing more. Frowning, Harry picked up the envelope and discovered, to his surprise, that it was full of Floo powder. The note said nothing more than ‘Floo to the Manor. The Headmaster will be aware of where you will be should he sense you have left Hogwarts’ wards.’

“What does he think this is? A treasure hunt?” Harry wondered out loud, trying to deny the spark of excitement in his chest. He’d always desperately wanted to join in on Dudley’s when he was little...

Grabbing the envelope, he strode over to the fireplace and tossed it in, exclaiming, “Tharabraye Manor!” as he went.

The flames turned green and Harry took a deep breath before stepping forward... and landing on the rug at the far end with a soft ‘whump’.

“Oof.” Rubbing his back, he carefully raised himself off the floor and looked around.

It was exactly as he remembered it. ‘His’ sofa and Snape’s chair stood innocently before him as if he had never left. The walls were the same mixture of cream and dark wood as before and the floor was covered in a large, dark red rug which clashed slightly with the red sofa.

Harry took a deep breath and let it out again. He was home.

“What now?” he asked the room, not expecting an answer, and was unsurprised when none came. Why had Snape wanted him to come here in the first place? Simply for the comfort of being in a familiar place? It was a nice idea, but unlikely... Completely stumped, he wandered from room to room in the hopes of finding another clue.

Nothing in the library, the kitchen, or the Owlery – though he did end up saying hello to Anila and Aeolus, who looked happy to see him  – and it was only when he realised he was subconsciously avoiding his room did he manage to force his feet to climb back up the stairs and enter the first room he came to...

With a jump of delight, he saw there was a parcel waiting for him on the bed. He hurried inside, his eyes avoiding the blank space where the mirror used to be. Now that his heart was slowly starting to heal, the wall looked... wrong... without it. Shouldn’t he try to remember Shadow as best he could, like he’d done with Ron and Hermione?

But still, an unknown parcel was a far more exciting thing to wonder about than where a full length mirror might have gone to.

One shredded package later, Harry found himself staring in awe at its contents.

Clothes.

Really, really nice clothes.

When the hell did Dad get these? They must have cost a fortune!

He gently stroked the soft cuff of a jumper, a warm happiness bubbling through his chest. No longer would he have to live in the reincarnated versions of Dudley’s old clothes. No longer would he have to use to warming charms in winter to keep from shivering. It was brilliant. And the perfect way for his father to tell him he still cared even from a distance.

He was a little worried about what Ron would think; his friend was sensitive when it was obvious someone could afford what his family could not.

Hurriedly, he scooped the package back together and padded off to go mirror-hunting before he could worry too much more. He couldn’t change how Ron would react, or even know if he would at all.

It took a lot of poking about in places Harry was sure he wasn’t supposed to, but he eventually found what he was looking for covered in dust in the under-stairs cupboard. He chuckled as he considered the irony of where Snape had put it for a moment before dragging it out into the light of the hallway and going to carefully re-hang it in his bedroom. After all, weren’t memories supposed to be treasured?

oooOOOooo

Shadow blinked tears out of his eyes as he looked upon the figure standing a few paces in front of him.

“Hello, Mum.”

Of course he recognised her – how could he not? Even if he hadn’t realised was how short she was. In fact, they both currently stood at exactly the same height.

She held her hands out to him, a delighted smile lighting up her face. “My darling boy. It is a joy to see you at last!”

Shadow twisted his hands together in nervousness, then realised it was a trait he’d picked up from Harry and swiftly hid them behind his back.

“You...” His throat was dry. “You do know that I’m not Harry?”

Lily lowered her hands as her eyes filled with sadness. “Yes. I do not know your name, but I know that you are my son... I also know that I am so, so sorry.”

“I– I’m Shadow... but, what do you mean you’re sorry?”

“Shadow. Shadow; it fits. Shadow, please, allow just another minute to see you before you must look upon me in hatred.”

Shadow started to feel a sick kind of panic curdle in his gut and he clenched his jaw against it. “No. Tell me now. What did you do?”

The deep sadness in Lily’s eyes increased. “You have your father’s temper. In fact, you look so much like him...”

Shadow said nothing, but was almost ready to plead with her.

She seemed to sense this for she lowered her eyes. “I cast the Genetic Curse on my only son, knowing full well the repercussions it would have for him. Knowing exactly what it would do to you.” Her gaze met his once more, and suddenly her green eyes were icy with self-disgust, causing Shadow to shudder slightly.

“But...” He swallowed and tried again in a stronger voice. “But you’re talking about me as if I’m a different person from Harry – as if I’m not just a rogue part of his personality.”

“You are a real person, never doubt that, Shadow.”

“I’m not exactly going to have an identity crisis now, Mum. I got over the weirdness weeks ago.” At least, I think it was weeks...

“No, my son.” Lily smiled and she stepped forward, her hand hovering over where it would have touched his hand, and Shadow’s throat contracted as he realised she was as insubstantial as the mist around them. “Listen: in the Wizarding world, there is more than one way to be born as someone’s twin, as I learned to my cost. And Harry’s. And yours.”

“Twins. That’s what... Never mind. What do you mean?”

“Do you know of any twins who are so close to each other in thoughts each can read the other’s mind?”

Huh, that’s kind of hard to miss if you spend time with the Weasleys! “Yes – they can finish off each other’s sentences.”

Lily nodded in agreement. “Then you would agree that they are one soul in two bodies.”

Shadow cocked his head to one side. “Yes...”

“The opposite is also possible.”

There was a moment of confusion, but then the answer suddenly burst into his head in a blaze of understanding. Oh, how could I have been so stupid?! It was so simplistically obvious, and he never would have guessed.

“Two souls... in one body.”

“Exactly.” Lily inclined her head, her eyes shimmering with tears. “They... the Healers at the hospital were going to kill you because your conflicting magic would have destroyed both you and Harry in the end.

“Your soul was less dominant than Harry’s, so they were going to...” A small sob broke her off. “I don’t know what they were going to do, but the equivalent of setting a Dementor on a helpless baby is nothing less than barbaric, so I did the only thing I could think of; I Obliviated the nurse and checked myself out of St Mungo’s.”

Shadow found his mouth was hanging open slightly and hurriedly shut it. “What did you do then?”

Lily shrugged. “I went home. James was busy and hadn’t been able to attend the birth and I had the place to myself. I’d found the Genetic Curse and the Gnothi Seauton in my search for a way to hide Harry’s true paternity, but I would never have used it... But in the end I found I had to. It was the only spell I had read of that split the soul which didn’t resort to Dark magic, and I thought... if I could somehow get you and Harry into two different places; it would turn out alright in the end.”

“But it didn’t.”

A few tears spilled over from Lily’s brimming eyes and her words were slow as if it cost her dearly to say them, “No, it didn’t. It confined you to this place of mirror and shadows, able to watch through Harry’s eyes, to experience whatever he did, but never choose for yourself, or touch, or influence anything – until the second half of the Curse took effect. I suppose it must have been a form of hell.”

Shadow hunched his shoulders and uncomfortably shifted his gaze away. “Yeah, it was a bit, but I’m here and separate now.” He turned back to her, the beginnings of a slight smile curving his lips. “And I’m myself again for the first time since you cast that Curse.”

Lily laughed shakily, scrubbing the tears from her eyes. “What an idiotic mother you have. I managed to mess this up royally and then leave you and Harry to pick up the pieces, but thank you, thank you for forgiving me, my Shadow, even though I cannot forgive myself.”

Shadow cleared his throat gruffly and kicked at the ground a little. “’Course I forgive you; you’re my Mum. Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?”

Lily sighed as she finally managed to compose herself. “Thank you again, dear one, but I still think that Severus would have done a much better job with both of you. Ooh, my sister needs her arse kicking for what she did! And so does Albus Dumbledore for leaving you with her!”

Shadow smirked. “Somehow I don’t think Snape will leave her in peace now he knows the full story.”

“We can hope,” Lily whispered conspiratorially. “I am relieved Harry is under his care now, but we need to figure out how to get you to them as well.”

“I... had hoped you would have some ideas on that.”

“I do, now listen to me; once you have seen the mirrors in this place, you will see them for the rest of your life. You only need to know how.”

“How?”

“Hush, I was getting to that. Your magic holds the key to this. Use it to reach out and feel your way for you and you will find your way home, as sure as your love for Harry.”

“That’s all? That’s it?!” Shadow felt indignant. All that wandering around moping for nothing!

“Ah, do not be too hard on yourself. Now off you go, my time here is fast waning and I would rather see that you’re already safely on your way.”

Shadow felt a sinking sadness settle in his chest. “This is really goodbye this time, isn’t it? I won’t see you again.”

“Not until you pass into the shadows yourself, my son. And I for one hope that many years will go by before then. Now, remember that I love you, and please let Harry and Sev know that I love them also.”

Shadow swallowed against the lump in his throat, forcing it away. “I will. ‘Bye Mum.” He made himself turn away and start to walk.

“Oh, and love? One more thing.”

Shadow glanced over his shoulder and saw the red-haired woman was already starting to fade. “Yes, Mum?”

“If either you or Harry could learn to play Greensleeves on the piano for Sev, I’d be eternally grateful.”

Just as the last wisps of her form were swallowed up by the grey mist, Shadow startled himself by letting out an amused snort.

Aye, aye, Ma’am, orders received. Now, time to go home. At last.