Harry crashed to the ground and lay there panting in the shadows. He was bitterly cold and his clothes and winter cloak were sodden with moisture.  He could barely see, he could barely think, he was so terrified. The day had finally came, everything that was going to happen... Hearing a movement to the right of him he cast his shield but he was too slow... always too slow. There was a vivid silver flash which tore through the air before the curse hit him in the chest. At first he was surprised to find that he didn’t feel anything, it wasn’t until he looked down and saw the blood seeping through his jumper that a dull throbbing set in. Within seconds it grew in intensity until the pain began to overtake his senses and he began to tremble and shake as it became utterly unbearable...

With a start Harry sprang back to consciousness, clutching his chest- how were his hands clean now, not showing a trace of the blood which had covered them moments before?

Sitting up fully, his heart beating wildly, he hugged his knees into his chest.

It was so real. Too real. He had been there. Although the agony had ended abruptly, he had truly felt that wound and his body was tingling and pulsing with the shock of it even now.

He looked around the room. If Theodore had woken this time he was pretending to be asleep. Softly he padded out into the corridor...

He made his way to Snape’s rooms but was too distraught to think of knocking. Pressing his hand to the wall, he stumbled into the sitting room.

‘Snape?’ He cried out, his breathless call breaking the utter silence of the night. A moment later the Professor appeared from his bedroom in a dark, green dressing gown and guided him towards the sofa.

‘I...my chest again, the stabbing curse, at first nothing and then it was everywhere and I don’t know who it was...I couldn’t feel it until I saw it, why, I...’ Harry talked with desperate speed, struggling to draw his breath.

‘Hush, Harry, drink this and then we’ll talk.’

Snape handed him a bottle of calming potion. He had a ready stock of them to hand, given the past few days.

Severus watched as the boy gulped down the liquid and his heart rate gradually slowed. He was still shaking, perhaps he was cold clad only in pyjamas? Severus didn’t really think it was the cause but drew the sofa throw around the child’s shoulders just in case.

‘Snape it was real, I tell you, so real. I’ve never felt anything like it.’ He was shuddering now, tears still streaming down his face. Against his better judgement Severus put an awkward arm around the child’s shoulders.

‘Hush Harry. You are not hurt. Take some deep breaths and try to get a hold of yourself.’ He told him commandingly.

‘I...I...I...’ Just as Severus was about to withdraw his arm, he realised Harry was leaning his head against it. No doubt seeking some measure of comfort from having someone next to him who could bring him back to reality.

Some minutes later, eventually calm enough to speak properly, Harry drew away from his professor and hugged the sofa throw to himself. He related his latest nightmare in a shaky voice. When he’d finished he looked away as he said: ‘It’s not working is it? The occlumency. It’s not going to stop the nightmares... it’s just making them worse.’

Severus could see how Harry had reached this conclusion, although he didn’t understand why this was proving to be the case. They’d spent so much time improving his occlumency, every evening and passed over some of Harry’s detentions to give them extra time. Harry’s unconscious occlumency was bound to be stronger than ever but if anything the nightmares were becoming more frequent and vivid. This particular dream about some sort of stabbing curse had been repeated for the past few nights.

Reaching out a hand to jerk the boys face up so he would make eye contact, Severus murmured ‘Legimens’ as he stared at Harry, testing his defences. Eventually he broke the gaze.

‘Your occlumency is strong, while you’re awake at least.’

‘So what it’s just crap when I’m asleep? So what do I do?’

‘You practise.’

‘I am practising. I’m practising all the f****** time! It’s not working and I can’t cope with this...’ Harry sounded as though he was too tired to do justice to the level of frustration and upset he felt.

Severus glanced at the clock, quarter past four, they had less than three hours before they would have to be up again.

 ‘Yes you can, Harry.’

‘I can’t. I need some dreamless sleep.’ The boys voice was muffled as he leant against Severus’ shoulder once more.

‘Hush. We’ve been through this. I am convinced that our work on your occlumency will eventually pay dividends. Your conscious occluding is more or less impeccable and you will get there subconsciously. Having a defeatist attitude, however, will not increase the likelihood of success.’

‘I’m not defeatist.’ Harry objected.

Severus’ dark eyes studied the child beside him.

‘I know. I have realised you are capable of putting great effort into your lessons and making good progress resultantly.’

 ‘And you always thought I was thick.’ Harry mumbled sleepily.

‘I never thought you were unintelligent,’ Severus contradicted him, ‘although at times you seemed to be doing your best to appear so. Indeed, the fact that you have proved how capable you actually are rather begs the question as to why you don’t always attempt to live up to your potential. Your brewing in potions has improved exponentially since you have applied yourself.’

‘Huh, potions.’ Harry mumbled through a yawn.

‘Yes, the art of potion making, Harry, which has great value if you stopped to consider it without your usual Gryffindor impetuousness. Imagine how beneficial you would find it if you were able to brew your own healing draughts in the future? Or given your penchant for practising defence, potions which could weaken or even destroy your enemy? You must endeavour to give your best efforts to everything you do, Harry, lest one day you regret missing an opportunity.’

Severus stopped talking as he realised the boy had fallen asleep. Very carefully, trying not to wake him, he edged his arm out from underneath his head, substituting it for a cushion.

Standing up he stretched his arms and yawned silently. Half four in the morning. It didn’t really seem worth trying to get back to sleep. Conjuring a cup of tea, he accio’d some of his potions notes and sat at the table, his eyes glancing back to the sleeping child every few minutes.

***

The next day at breakfast Jasper approached the Gryffindor table.

‘Where were you last night?’

‘I...’ Harry felt a blush creeping across his face. ‘I wasn’t very well.’

‘Merlin, what with the way that you and Connor keep disappearing, it’s a wonder we ever have anyone actually in our dorm room!’

‘Yeah.’ Harry said uncomfortably and in an attempt to change the subject. ‘It’s good he’s actually coming to classes now though.’

‘Yeah, well I don’t suppose Snape really gave him much choice in the matter did he?’

Connor’s knack of looking for trouble didn’t seem to be diminishing the longer that he was at Hogwarts.  If anything he was getting more detentions now that Snape was making him go to classes. It turned out, that far from Malfoy’s predictions; he was actually far ahead in most of Harry’s lessons. Where he didn’t do well, like in potions where he caused a blanket of smoke to spread across the room, Harry suspected it was only because he was trying to wind his Professors up.

In a way, Harry had actually given up on trying to figure the new boy out. After lunch the other day, he had asked if Connor wanted to go flying with him and Ron, (prompting by Hermione who was still convinced he was secretly homesick), only to be refused.

‘Ah, no thanks, not really my thing.’ He’d said dismissively.

‘You can’t fly?’ Ron had asked in surprise.

‘Oh I can fly.’ Connor said with a huge grin. ‘But I’m not in the mood. And the school broomsticks won’t really do it for me.’

‘Don’t you have your own broomstick?’ Harry’d asked wondering why his wealthy family hadn’t supplied him with that staple item.

Connor shrugged. ‘At home, I do. I haven’t got it with me. You must have noticed, I haven’t got anything with me, apart from books and clothes?’

Now that he mentioned it, Harry did recall that they’d all thought it strange that his corner of the dorm was so bare. He’d just assumed everything was still stashed in his trunk, perhaps ready for getting sent home, if he managed to get expelled.

Connor was definitely a puzzle. He’d stuck up for Harry against some of Malfoy’s taunts walking through the common room yesterday, though Harry suspected this might have more to do with wanting to annoy Malfoy than anything else. This seemed to be borne out by his behaviour at other times where his quick mouth got him in trouble for talking back in class and made him lots of enemies throughout Slytherin.

The new boy just didn’t seem able to stop himself. By now, everyone had seen Snape yelling at him at one time or another, but other than making him come to class it seemed to have had little effect. He just went to class and lost more points before earning more lines and detentions with Filch.

Harry knew that he’d got off fairly lightly with his detentions over the past few days. Ok, so Snape had made him scrub caldrons and dice flobberworms, but so far most of the time had been given over to extra occlumency. However Snape had assured him he would be having some ‘more pertinent’ detentions over the next couple of days and as a result Harry felt mounting unease as he made his way to Snape’s rooms that evening.

He knocked and waited to be called in before opening the door.

‘Put this on.’ Snape passed him a cloak as soon as he entered the room. ‘It’s raining out.’

‘We’re going outside?’

‘I think you’re long overdue learning about the consequences of using that spell.’ Snape replied looking at him steadily. ‘Follow me.’

His heart sinking Harry followed Snape out of Slytherin and out of the main castle doors. After a few more minutes Harry asked, ‘are we going to see Hagrid?’

‘He has something we’ll need.’ Snape replied his face not giving away any hints.

Harry toyed with clumps of mud, kicking them from side to side as he waited outside Hagrid’s hut as Snape disappeared inside. He could have at least let him say hello to Hagrid, just for a minute. The giant was his friend after all.

Moments later Snape appeared again carrying a brown cardboard box.

‘What’s in it?’ Harry asked.

Snape ignored him and continued to stride on purposefully, causing Harry to have to half jog to keep up with him, until he came to a stop at the top of a bank. It was a secluded area, surrounded by trees, where Severus knew they would be able to see anyone who was approaching whilst maintaining a certain level of privacy themselves.

Snape opened the box and withdrew a mouse by its tail. The small creature tried to scramble away frantically until he placed it on the grass and with a flick of him wand stuck its feet to the ground.

‘The incantation for that spell is Titan Navitas.’ Snape said in a low, even voice. ‘That is for you to consume energy and power from someone, or rather in this case, something else. Neither Dumbledore nor I know the incantation for transferring one’s own energy, as far as we’re aware the spell hasn’t been used in that way before. However, that is of little matter considering you shall not be doing that again. I hardly need to add that you may experiment with this spell only under my direct supervision. Begin.’

Harry glanced up at his professor, uneasily.

‘I... but... it’s dangerous right?’

‘I’m asking you to use the spell on the mouse not transfer your power to it.’ Snape pointed out dismissively. ‘A mouse is too small to provide a significant amount of power. You will be fine.’

‘I don’t mean me... it might hurt the mouse mightn’t it?’

‘All this concern for a mouse and yet you were so willing to experiment on Draco Malfoy. Well, well.’ The words sounded mocking but Harry could sense that Snape wasn’t joking.

‘I’ll try it wandlessly first.’ He said tentatively kneeling down. ‘Wordlessly as well...just to see...’

Like before Harry closed his eyes and thought the incantation to himself. Titan Navitas.

Nothing.

‘Now say it out loud.’ Severus prompted him.

‘Titan Navitas.’ Harry whispered.

Again nothing.

‘And now, with the wand as well.’

Harry reluctantly lifted his wand looking down at the small, brown mouse who was locked to the spot.

 Steering himself he said. ‘Titan Navitas.’ Pointing his wand at the mouse.

Momentarily Harry felt a rush of warmth as a buzz spread through his body. For a split second nothing seemed to happen to the mouse until it broke free of the spell Severus had bound it with. It shot up a inch of two in the air as if someone had given it an electric shock before landing on the ground. Like Snape, the time before, it was racked with convulsions. Unlike Snape it did not regain consciousness after some time but just lay there.

Snape prodded the mouse’s body with his wand, examining it with a detached air.

Harry gulped.

‘It’s dead?’

‘Five points to Gryffindor. For stating the obvious.’ Snape said mockingly.

 ‘And five points away from Gryffindor for wasting resources.’ He added as an afterthought as he realised the counters would give the points despite his sarcasm.

‘It could still be alive.’ He said in a small voice. ‘When I used the spell on you... I thought you were dead at first.’

‘It’s dead, Harry.’ Snape said evenly.

‘Oh.’

Harry sat down on the ground, reaching out a shaky hand.

‘Should we bury it?’

‘Leave it for now.’ Snape ordered him. Reaching in the box again he pulled out another mouse and froze it to the ground, like before.

‘Try again.’

‘No.’

‘Harry.’ The mocking tone was completely gone from the Professor’s voice but was replaced by impatience.

‘No.’

‘Harry.’

His heart beating he looked up pleadingly at Snape. ‘Please don’t make me.’

‘Just do it.’ The Professor ground the words out at him.

‘I...I can’t.’ He said helplessly.

‘Harry, try putting less force into your incantation and you may have more success this time.’

Harry hesitated.

‘Harry, if you are ever going to use this spell offensively you need to be able to control it. Now try again.’

Kneeling up, in front of the mouse, lifting his wand once more, Harry muttered ‘I’m sorry.’ Before trying the incantation in his head. Nothing happened.

‘Harry.’ Snape was sounding really angry now.

‘Ok, ok.’

In a voice barely above a whisper Harry said ‘Titan Navitas.’

Moments later they were both staring down at a second dead mouse.

Snape reached inside the box once more...

‘No!’ Harry protested leaping to his feet. ‘I’m not going to stay here and go through that box, killing them one by one!’

‘You’re not going anywhere.’ Snape said in a cold voice as he froze the next mouse to the ground. Taking Harry firmly by the arm, careful not to grab him too tightly this time, he pushed him back towards the mouse.

‘I won’t do it!’ Harry said angrily. ‘You can’t make me!’ He flung his wand on the ground.

‘I think you’ll find I can.’ Snape said darkly.

Harry crossed his arms over his chest and glared back at him.

Snape seemed to come to a decision. In more even tones he said. ‘Fine, we will simply stay here as long as it takes, Harry. All night if need be.’

‘Look I get it ok?’ Harry exploded. ‘You’ve made your point. I could have done this to Draco. I could have killed him. I’m sorry. REALLY SORRY. How many times do you want me to say it? But I’m not going to let you punish me by making me kill all those mice. I just won’t do it.’