It was ten past seven in the morning and they had barely been in each others company for five minutes when their first argument of the day started.

‘What did you say?’ Snape glared across the table at Harry who swallowed nervously before repeating himself.

‘I don’t want to do those occlumency lessons. I’ll read the book, I’ll practise clearing my mind. But I won’t do the rest of it, not any more.’

Harry felt awful. His head still ached from yesterday afternoon. His vision was shot to pieces and he felt dizzy. At least at Hogwarts the lessons had only been once a week and he’d had time to recover before each additional bout. The daily lessons were killing him.

‘You will do the lessons, Potter, if I have to drag you into the study and spell your eyes open.’

‘Fine then. I won’t even try. I know you think I’m not trying as it is but I really won’t try at all and then we’re see how much point there is in these lessons.’

‘Careful Potter, if you deliberately negate the point in you being here, I shall make you leave. As the mutt is otherwise engaged I would have to return you to your relatives.’

Harry went white. He stood up facing his tormentor accusingly. ‘You wouldn’t!’

‘Wouldn’t I?’ Snape silkily replied.

He would as well. Bastard, git, f*****, w*****, c***. The insults pounded around Harry’s head furiously. But Dumbledore wouldn’t let him- would he? It wasn’t as if the headmaster had looked after his welfare particularly well in the past, Harry remembered. He’d known Harry hated and dreaded going back to the Dursleys and he’d done nothing. It had taken Sirius to intervene. Harry knew his Godfather would come to help him again but he was abroad and it might take him ages to find out what had happened. He might be too late. Uncle Vernon was bound to be worst than ever after what Sirius had done to him when he rescued him.

Harry sat back down.

‘Fine.’ He said bleakly, all the fight leaving his tone, briefly bringing his hands up to massage his temples. ‘Can I at least have a potion for my headache?’

Severus gave the boy a hard stare through narrowed eyes. He hadn’t mentioned that he was feeling unwell before. Was this another ruse to worm his way out of lessons he hated? He couldn’t believe the audacity of the brat in thinking he could refuse to continue the occlumency. Still he’d nipped that idea in the bud fairly easily. How revealing to witness how quickly the brave Gryffindor could be made to cower.

Nevertheless he accio’d the potion the boy had requested handing it to him saying.

‘Here- now you have no excuse for this afternoon.’

The boy took the potion, without thanks and downed it quickly. He then ate two pieces of toast without looking up from his plate before draining his milk. Then he stood up and left the room, avoiding eye contact with Severus.

Back in his room, Harry closed the door before hitting the wall hard. He gasped from the pain in his hand which he could still feel despite the potion he’d drunk earlier which was helping his head.

Harry stayed in his room for the rest of the morning. He started his next assignment but couldn’t string coherent sentences together. Eventually he picked up his occlumency text book from the corner of the room where he had flung it after yesterday’s lesson and skimmed through it furiously.

That afternoon in the occlumency lesson all the memories which Snape accessed were of the Dursleys. Each time the professor flipped out of one memory, the next one appeared and was even worse. After the fifth attempt, Harry lost his cool completely.

‘Will you STOP doing that! STOP making me remember those things.’

‘It is YOUR mind Potter.’ Snape bellowed back at him. ‘You need to stop allowing me into your most vulnerable memories! Control you mind.’

They were furiously stood facing each other by this point. All Harry’s fears of provoking Snape had disappeared in his momentary anger.

Severus sighed. Did the boy think he wanted to witness those scenes over and over? It was all too horribly reminiscent of his own childhood. The brat seemed to have placed all his worst memories freely on display this afternoon. He’d been trying repeatedly to find other memories even those ghastly quidditch ones but to no avail.

‘Right we’ll try again...’ Severus sighed.

‘NO!’

Severus glared at him as he lifted his wand.

Harry closed his eyes, but then remembering Snape’s earlier threat about spelling his eyes open jumped up and grabbing the nearest thing to hand lobbed the heavy occlumency book at his professor before scrambling for the door.

Snape’s speedy shield protected him from the heavy book and he set off after the brat.

‘POTTER!’ He grabbed the boy’s arm in the hallway, spinning him round to face him.

Harry cringed, lifting his arm automatically to protect his face from the blows he knew were coming whilst protesting.

‘Don’t hit me! If you touch me Sirius will get you...!’

A grip of iron grabbed him by the collar.

‘You certainly deserve a good hiding for that Potter.’ Snape hissed at him through gritted teeth while half dragging him to his room. He pushed him inside.

‘You will stay in your room out of my sight until tomorrow Potter. You will have no dinner tonight while you think about your actions. I will set your punishment tomorrow.’

Shaken Harry slumped to the floor by the side of his bed. It was lucky that he had thought to threaten Snape with Sirius when he had been about to beat him. But what would happen tomorrow? Would Snape send him back to the Dursleys? Uncle Vernon would surely kill him this time.

Back in his study Severus accio’d his calming potion. That little... He’d had to send him to his room for the rest of the day to give himself time to cool down.

Throwing a bloody book at him, when he was giving up his time trying to teach the ungrateful little sod. Then implying that mangy mutt of a godfather of his was some sort of threat to him. Of all the things to say which were likely to cause him to clout the little brat that was a good one. In his school boy battles with the marauders Snape had taken on all three of his enemies often holding his own and occasionally besting them. Since those days his duelling and knowledge of hexes and curses had increased exponentially. He had no doubt that he could defeat Sirius soundly if the need arose. It was extremely galling that the boy and the mutt clearly felt otherwise. Still Severus had never hit a child before and was hardly about to start now despite the extreme provocation.