"Step forward Ssssseverusss," he hissed out, his toying his wand between his fingers.

Severus made sure his shields were as strong as ever, knowing already what was coming. He had to mentally pinch himself to stop himself from worrying about the child in his manor, they couldn't afford any mistakes. He knelt down in front of the monster and steeled himself for the mind rape.

"You were late, I do not tolerate latenessss, from my death eaterssss," Voldemort stated his eyes flashing red in his annoyance.

"I'm sorry my Lord, Dumbledore wished to see me," Severus told the man, half truthfully.

"I don't care, what that old man wants. I come firsst Severussss, you would think after all your years with me, you would know that. I ssssee I shall, have to remind you," he said with a sadistic glint in his eye. "Crucio,"

Back in the Manor, Harry was witnessing all of this, but he couldn't do anything but feel the man's pain. He could see the proud potion Master on the floor, but he would not scream, and Harry wished someday that he could do that. As currently his own throat he swear was raw, and he was still screaming hoarsely. He felt himself occlude a bit, but he was still able to see into the man's mind, he said and did nothing not wanting Tom to become aware of him and then invade his own. The tears were running down his face, in a stream but he wasn't aware of anything else in that moment.

Sirius however was very much aware. True Harry had turned the mirror upside down that meant little to him, he wasn't deaf. He could hear his godson screaming, and he in turn was screaming at the child to come back, to show him that he was okay, but the boy wasn't listening to him.

"Harry!" Sirius screamed, when the boy's screams reached an unnatural shriek. His eyes widened, as he looked around the room widely, wishing he there with him. "Say Something Harry! Anything!" He pleaded.

While Harry didn't hear him, Remus sure did and the werewolf burst into his room, a wary expression on his face.

"Sirius, what the hell are you doing?" He asked quietly, head could hear the man yelling downstairs.

"I was talking to Harry, but something's wrong Moony," Sirius said quietly as he stared hard at the mirror willing the child to appear. He was very much afraid as the child in question had stopped screaming but as he had yet to reappear he didn't know if he was okay.

"What do you mean something's wrong with Harry?" Remus said tightly as his eyes narrowed.

"I don't know, he just called me in the mirror about Snape going to a meeting and then he was babbling at me to come over. I told him I couldn't, I'm not safe yet, but he didn't listen and tossed the mirror down. And then that's when he started screaming," Sirius rushed out anxiously.

"Damn it, he's probably had a vision," Remus said before he ran out the room, he would worry about the twin mirrors later.

"Moony wait, what visions?" Sirius called as he ran after his friend.

"Because of his scar, Harry and Voldemort are linked, and he can see and feel the pain that the man lashes out to his followers," Remus quickly explained as he grabbed the floo powder.

"I want to come," Sirius said softly, horrified at that explanation.

"No Sirius, you know can't. I'm wasting time, floo Albus for me while I get Harry," Remus said before he disappeared into the green flames.

Sirius watched his friend floo away, knowing that should have been him, he was supposed to come to his godson's aid when the boy needed him. He ignored the pain lashing through his chest as the implications that he had messed up everything to do with the child. What was he doing? He gasped softly, as he shook the dark thoughts away before he visibly pulled himself together and flooed the Headmaster to inform him of the situation.

"Albus, if you could floo over to Snape's place, Remus is there with Harry. He thinks he had a vision," Sirius relayed the message, standing awkwardly in the man's office. It had been a while since he had been here, and he shook away the memories that threatened to come to the surface.

"Thank you Sirius, I will be right there," Albus said as he looked warily at young man in front of him. The man had a big heart and was very loyal to his friends he considered family. But somewhere along the way they had given up on him, and he has lost it in Azkaban. He was one of his deepest regrets, why hadn't be pushed harder for Sirius?

"Okay," Sirius replied softly as he turned to go back that hell hole.

"You can come with me, I don't need to tell you to control yourself do I?" Albus said sternly, he was a firm believer in second, and third and even fourth chances. Especially since he knew that Sirius did have a good heart.

"I shouldn't, he won't want to see me," Sirius said with a shake of his head and turned back to grab the powder.

"How do you know that? Are you Harry? That child is has an abundance of unwavering loyalty and is very capable of forgiveness Sirius," Albus told him gently.

Sirius shook his head, as his eyes clouded with tears, trying in vain to shake the emotions away. He was not getting into this now. "I don't deserve to be forgiven Albus, James would kill me if he were here," he whispered out.

"If James were here, then none of this would have even happened. You wouldn't have gone to Azkaban for a false imprisonment at the age of 21. You are still but a child too Sirius," the old man said sadly.

Sirius allowed one tear to fall before he shook his head and backed away from the man his expression guarded. "No, you don't get to do that. Don't rest the blame solely on that place, I'm equally at fault," he said tightly before he shook his head again. "I'm going back home, just let me know if he's okay," he said before he quickly disappeared in the fireplace before he could take the man up on his offer.

The old man sighed sadly before he flooed over to the Manor, hurrying up the stairs where he knew Harry's room to be. He found the child in question laying on the bed and Remus wiping his brow down. But that didn't stop him from casting diagnostic charms over the child just to make sure that he was okay.

"Albus, he was passed out when I got here," Remus told him worriedly.

"That's good actually Remus, if he was aware he would be in pain. And I have no wish for Harry to feel anymore of that," he said as he summoned the required potions, knowing Severus had quite a few in stock.

"I only know what Sirius told me, and at first I thought he might be lying. But he was telling me the truth," Remus said softly.

"You shouldn't be so hard on him Remus, he's going to need all the support he can get. If he didn't feel any remorse I wouldn't be saying anything but you didn't see him. I need you to not give up on Sirius, that will truly break him and then in turn Harry," Albus told him seriously.

"How will Harry break? He doesn't even like Sirius anymore," Remus pointed out.

"He loves Sirius, he doesn't like the actions of the man as of late, and neither does anyone else. But he's getting the help he needs and Harry knows that. Given his own upbringing Harry won't turn away one of the last links to his parents," Albus said softly.

Remus nodded, and to his shock found himself relieved at the fact that Harry still considered Sirius family. He slumped in a chair by the child's bed, holding his hand lightly, wishing the child didn't have to go through any of this. He watched silently as the man spelled the potion's into the boy's stomach

"When will he wake up?" Remus asked after a moment of silence had gone by.

"In his own time, in the meantime I'm going to make myself comfortable," Albus said as he conjured a soft and squishy chair.

"You don't have to stay Albus, I'll watch him," He told the old man softly.

"I know you will Remus, but this is the first place Severus will come, and I need to see the extent of his injuries before he tries to hide them from me," Albus replied with a pointed look. They both knew the dour man didn't like to show any sign of weakness.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry had no sense of time, the only thing he was slightly aware of was that the pain had stopped finally. He didn't know where he was, nor what where was or is for that matter. He could hear what sounded like voices too faint for his ears to hear, before he knew no more.

When he woke up again, he could clearly hear who was in the room with him this time. His heart plummeted when he realized that Sirius wasn't there. Why didn't his godfather come and see if he was okay? Did the man not care anymore? He slowly opened one eye to find Remus having conversation with his mirror in his hand. He couldn't hear anything so he figured the man had placed a silencing charm or something around him.

"He's awake," Severus said with a sigh of relief, somewhere from the left of Harry.

Harry's eyes flashed to the man's taking in his appearance, trying to see that he genuinely was okay, and not just pretending. He lifted himself up into a sitting position, his muscles quivering slightly from the effort.

"What are you all doing here?" He asked hoarsely before he found a cup in front of him and eagerly took a drink.

"We were all worried about you, after getting wind that you had a vision we needed to see if you were okay," Albus told him.

Harry's brow furrowed at that, as he hadn't told anyone about that. "How did you know I had a vision? Are you spying on me?" He asked, his hand silently making his way to his wand conveniently on the dresser.

"Honestly Harry, please don't channel Moody, paranoia isn't suited for you," Severus drawled.

"It's not paranoia, when they are really after you. You can never be too careful, so again I ask you, how the hell did you know I had a vision?" He retorted, looking at the supposed imposter warily.

"Language Mr. Potter," He chastised the child, giving him a glare.

Harry winced at that, he knew just by that glare that Snape was himself obviously but that wasn't the issue. "Well?"

"Sirius did, he told me and I told Albus," Remus said before Harry could get into trouble.

"The mirror," he muttered out, having it confirmed when the man nodded. "Well why didn't he come then?" He asked softly, aware of how small and young his voice had sounded in that moment.

"Oh he wanted too Harry, make no mistake about that. I told him he couldn't," Remus was quick to say before the boy could fall deeper into the hurt.

"Why would you say that?" He asked, his eyes narrowing he knew why but still, why?

"You know why," Remus said sadly.

Harry took a shuddering breath before he laid back down and crossed his arm over his eyes. He didn't want to look at anyone anymore.

Albus thought it was best to keep the fact that he offered the man the chance to come but he declined citing that he wasn't yet cured and didn't want to risk Harry. Still it pained him to see the child like this, Severus and him might have a bond but so did Sirius. And that would never be broken, not when the boy on the bed valued family over everything.

"I'm obviously fine, so Severus you will see you out," Harry said quietly.

"Harry," Severus murmured warningly.

"You will see him out, I know you don't like werewolves," Harry muttered out before he buried his head under the pillows. "I wish to sleep," he said knowing damn well he was acting like a brat but he figured he had every right to be.

Severus scoffed and stood up, well aware that Harry was behaving rather childish but he would let it go. He gestured to his companions as they followed him out the boy's room, giving one last look to the child on the bed before the left him alone, closing the door behind them.

Harry sighed, before he realized something and frowned. "Wait!" He called out, knowing they were just there.

Severus quickly opened the door. "What is it?"

"Where is my mirror? Remus didn't give it back," Harry said frowning as he looked on the dresser to find the mirror still not there.

"I don't think you should have it," Remus told him gently, the mirror was securely in his pocket.

"Doesn't matter what you think, you're not my guardian, so that's not your decision to make. None of you are," he said his eyes flashing to Snape if the man dared to even think about keeping it. True he wished Snape could be his guardian but he was a realist and he knew that wasn't possible. And because he wasn't, no one could keep him from his stuff.

Severus narrowed his eyes, but he was tired and still hurting from the meeting and he wasn't in the mood to fight with Harry today. "Wolf, give him the mirror," he said wearily.

"Severus, surely you can see that this isn't healthy at all. You of all people should know that words hurt even worse then a physical hit," Remus said quietly.

Severus's eyes darkened at the implications of that, as he turned to level the man with a glare. "And soon Harry will find that out too, give him the damn mirror. I'm not going to be confiscating his things without a valid reason," he said tiredly. As much as he didn't want Harry to have the mirror he didn't have any evidence that Black had used it to harm Harry. And unless he did Harry wouldn't forgive him if he let Lupin take it.

Remus sighed and walked back to the child holding out the mirror. "This is a bad idea," he said with a shake of his head.

"Not to worry Remus, everything will work itself out in the end," Albus told him cheerfully as he closed the door behind the man and they headed downstairs.

Harry didn't say anything, waiting until he was sure they were gone before he brought the mirror up to his face. "Sirius?" Harry called out apprehensivly, unsure of the man's reaction. But he need not have worried.
"Kiddo," Sirius breathed out, relief obvious in his tone. "You alright Prongslet?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Harry said softly. "Why didn't you come?" He found himself asking.

"Because I'm not safe to be around you. And I don't want to ruin any of the lessons with the mind healer and start from scratch. I don't want to hurt you anymore, and I should have never done it in the first place," Sirius told him firmly.

"Yeah, I wish you hadn't," Harry said timidly, knowing that if he said it as okay, that be bring on a whole lecture on just why it wasn't okay.

"I'm surprised Remus gave you back the mirror," Sirius said for lack of anything better to say.

"He didn't want too, but Snape made him," Harry told him.

"Snape?" Sirius asked, his tone in disbelief but he wasn't going to go there with Harry.

"Yeah, he's an alright bloke once you get to know him," he told him.

"I will take your word for it," Sirius told him before he gave the teen one last smile. "I'm going to go, I hear the floo and I know it's Moony,"

Harry nodded, giving the man a small smile. "Okay, I love you Padfoot," he whispered.

"Back at ya kiddo," Sirius said before he turned off the mirror and set it down.

Sirius took a breath and started to clear his mind, as he heard his friend heading up the steps. He didn't want to talk to Remus at all, and which had him quickly turning off the light and getting into bed. He kept his breathing regular as he feigned sleep. He heard the man come into the room and he could feel Remus's eyes on his back but he didn't move and finally Remus left. Sirius blew out a breath, his heart pounding. What was this? Was he truly afraid of Remus? He didn't know he as wary if nothing else. He nodded to himself, wondering how he was going to fix this terrible situation he had gotten himself into.