It wasn't until late at night that Harry was able to sneak away, thanks to Ron and Hermione's constant presence, not to mention the late night feast that seemed to go on forever. He understood why they would want to stay close, especially with Hermione wanting to catch up on everything they'd done over the last couple of months, but Harry couldn't help but get annoyed as all he really wanted to do was try and get things sorted. His conversation with Dumbledore and everyone earlier had only had him questioning things further and he wanted to talk to Tom again as soon as possible, especially if that would mean him getting his body back.
Tom was the one person who had actually tried to explain things to him and encouraged Harry to question the information he was given, instead of talking in riddles and telling him things at the last minute, or even completely talking out his arse and right now Harry could use a bit of straight up honesty. It was all well and good Dumbledore telling him that he was different to Tom because he'd chosen Gryffindor, the problem was he hadn't, not really. From almost the moment he'd learned about the wizarding world, Harry had been told that Voldemort had been the one to kill his parents, an evil wizard from Slytherin who had led an army of people from that house, painting it in a terrible light. Then Malfoy had verbally attacked Ron although, looking back, Ron had actually started that altercation by claiming that Harry wouldn't want to be friends with the son of a death eater, so really Malfoy had just been defending himself. If Harry hadn't been so blinded by the joy of someone his own age talking to him then he might not have lept to Ron's defence as quickly. Unfortunately there wasn't much that he could do about all that now but it was another thing that was causing Harry's opinion of Ron to sour a bit.
Once his housemates were finally asleep, Harry donned his invisibility cloak and slipped out of bed in search of the castle's resident potions master. It was a feat easier said than done as, while Harry was able to easily make his way down to the dungeons no problem, he found that he didn't actually know where to go once he got there. Hoping that his famous luck would hold out, he walked to what he thought he could remember was the entrance to the Slytherin common room and waited to see if anyone walked past, cursing the fact that he hadn't thought to bring a quill with him or he could have asked Tom for directions.
Time ticked by with no one in sight and Harry felt his eyelids starting to droop. Giving things up as a lost cause, Harry carefully pulled himself up from the floor and headed back to the dorm, figuring that he could try again tomorrow, preferably after figuring out where his Professor's rooms were, although he had no idea who he could trust to ask for the information. He was so lost in thought that he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings and promptly walked into someone as he rounded the corner heading for the stairs. The other had much faster reflexes than him and quickly grabbed Harry before he could dart away, ripping the cloak off his head.
"Potter!" Snape sneered. "Oh how I am going to enjoy taking points off of you, especially after the headmaster's little display earlier, rewarding you for breaking rules yet again."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "That's fine sir, but can it wait? I've got someone here who really needs to talk to you."
"And where, pray tell Mr Potter, are you hiding this person? In the space between your ears where your brain is supposed to be perhaps?"
Harry held up the diary. "No sir, he's in here, or at least a memory of him is. His name is Tom Riddle but you might know him better as Lord Voldemort."
Snape flinched. "What game do you think you're playing boy!"
"No game sir, I promise, and if you take me to your rooms and give me a quill I'll show you."
"I don't think so Potter," Snape hissed, "in fact I've got half a mind to march you to the headmaster's office and demand he expel you right now."
Harry paled. "Please no, anything but that. Not because I think he'll expel me, he won't, he needs me here to keep me under his control, but if he finds out I didn't actually destroy the diary then he'll start asking questions that I really don't want to answer."
"Do you really think a man as important as Dumbledore wants to control you Potter," Snape scoffed. "Is your sense of self importance really that over inflated?"
"I'm not lying sir," Harry argued, "or exaggerating. He's practically dictated my life since before I was born and I've had enough. I want out sir, especially after a very enlightening conversation with the sorting hat earlier, and it said that you were the best person to help so please, help me. If there is anything that I can do to prove what I'm saying to you then tell me and I'll do it."
"Even if it was agreeing to spend every night in detention next year?" Snape asked.
"Even for the rest of my time at school," Harry assured him, looking him straight in the eye so he knew how serious he was.
"Be careful, Mr Potter, I might just hold you to that," Snape murmured. "Regardless this is not the place for conversations of this sort. Come, follow me, and put that blasted cloak back up. I have the feeling that neither of us want people to learn about this conversation."
Snape put him down and quickly swept down the corridor leaving Harry to frantically scamper after him. He stopped in front of a blank wall and, with a word whispered too low for Harry to hear, the bricks parted, in a similar fashion to the Slytherin common room, revealing warm and welcoming quarters. Harry rushed in behind Snape, fearing getting locked out, almost knocking the man over in his haste.
"Careful Potter, and take off that blasted cloak before you injure us both," Snape snapped once the doors had closed again, "although how a mere child managed to get an invisibility cloak is beyond me."
"Dumbledore gave it to me for Christmas, my first year," Harry stated matter of factly causing Snape to blanch.
"So that explains how you've been able to sneak around this castle all this time although why the headmaster thought that would be a good idea I don't know."
"How else would I have been able to find out about the philosopher's stone and try and stop Quirrell," said Harry as if it was the most obvious thing in the world causing Snape to gape at him.
"And what makes you think that he wanted you to go after the stone in the first place?"
"Other than the fact that he rewarded us so much for finding it?" Harry asked rhetorically. "Probably the fact that he let me sit in front of the Mirror of Erised for weeks before putting a stop to it. He wanted me to look at it and see my parents, to give me a reason to fight Voldemort although even that was all a lie."
"What do you mean it was a lie?"
"I didn't really see my parents," Harry explained. "The sorting hat told me that Lily wasn't my mum, that James got pregnant by Sirius Black and Dumbledore helped cover it up."
"How in Merlin's name could Black get Potter pregnant!" Snape exclaimed.
"Apparently there was an incident where James rescued a student from a werewolf attack and accidentally got himself infected. Dumbledore apparently managed to prevent him from turning by using alchemy and phoenix parts, basically turning my dad, or rather bearer, into a phoenix hybrid which had the side effect of allowing him to get pregnant. Look I know it sounds far-fetched," Harry said when he saw Snape gaping at him, "but that's just what the sorting hat told me."
"Not as far-fetched as you might imagine," Snape said enigmatically, "although that doesn't explain why you want me to talk to the dark lord, or how in fact."
"The how is easy," Harry smiled, "I just need a quill and some ink. As to why, well the dark lord, as you call him, wants his body back and the sorting hat suggested that you were the best person to ask, which is why I went looking for you."
"Am I to believe you actually want to help the dark lord get his body back?" Snape asked incredulously.
"Yes," Harry replied. "So far he is the one person who has tried to encourage me to think for myself and not take what people told me at face value. Did you realise that I should have been in your house only Hagrid gave me a massive spiel about Slytherin being the house of dark wizards when we went to get my school supplies and then Malfoy said something scathing about Ron who'd just befriended me on the train so I asked the hat to put me anywhere but Slytherin. It's almost a shame since the hat said I am actually an heir."
"You are not an heir to Slytherin Potter!" Snape scoffed.
"I am," Harry stated. "The Potter's are descended from the Peverells, same as the Gaunts, which is how Tom is also an heir, and the next in line, at least according to the sorting hat. Admittedly it was probably a good thing I didn't end up here, not only because you seem to hate me because my father, well bearer, saved your life, but also because, according to Dumbledore, I'm not 'evil' because I 'chose' Gryffindor."
Snape stared at him in disbelief. "The headmaster actually said that being in Slytherin would have made you evil! And why do you think I hate you because your father saved my life!"
"Technically James Potter was my bearer, apparently Sirius Black is my father but that is just what the sorting hat told me. Dumbledore told me that was the reason you hate me when I asked him last year but I'm guessing from your reaction that he was talking bollocks?" Snape nodded. "Of course." Harry rolled his eyes. "Anyway Dumbledore didn't outright say being in Slytherin would have made me evil but I told him Tom said he and I were alike and Dumbledore agreed, saying the biggest difference was that I had chosen Gryffindor."
"From which you inferred that being in Slytherin would have made you evil since you would have been too like the dark lord in the headmaster's eyes," Snape mused and Harry nodded. "Quite possible since he has frequently had a low opinion of my house. It seems like Mr Malfoy might actually have done you a favour with his behaviour."
"Please don't tell him that sir, his ego is big enough as it is," Harry gaped.We'll see," Snape smirked, "but as to me hating you, that is a gross exaggeration and the reason the headmaster gave is so distorted it is practically a lie. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but both Sirius Black and James Potter were both unapologetic bullies at school. They made my life hell here at Hogwarts, because I happened to be a Slytherin, come from a low income family and dared to be friends with a Gryffindor, Lily Evans, because we knew each other from before we came here. There was a group of four of them who called themselves the marauders and they took great joy in pulling pranks on me from the off, but Merlin forbid I ever deign to retaliate.
"The 'incident' that the headmaster so helpfully referred to happened in our 5th year after our rivalry was well established. I'd noticed them sneaking out of the castle each month and decided to follow one night to find out what they were up to. The problem was that Black had purposely allowed himself to be followed, luring me down a tunnel just as one of their members, who happened to be a werewolf, was turning. I was attacked and very nearly bitten. Potter pulled me out at the last second and claimed to have no prior knowledge of the incident so the headmaster leveraged me to admit to a life debt against Potter on pain of expulsion, something he said was transferred to you upon Potter's death."
"I guess it's safe to assume none of the others received punishment," Harry muttered.
"Quite," Severus grimaced, "much like he does with you and your friends. He does it as a way of ingratiating himself to you, making you feel grateful for not receiving a punishment so you're more amenable to him in the future."
Harry nodded. "I figured that out earlier. He threatened me and Ron with expulsion earlier this year if we got caught breaking any more rules so when we figured out where Ginny had gone and went to rescue her, we went to Lockhart instead of Dumbledore or McGonagall and a fat lot of good that was."
Snape scoffed. "That fraud would barely be able to help you tie your shoelaces."
"Yeah,figured that one out as well," Harry grinned. "He admitted to lying about all of his past exploits when we got to the Chamber of Secrets, explained that he obliviated the people who had actually performed the feats and then took credit. He was going to do the same to me and Ron only Ron's wand was still broken so it backfired which was how he lost all of his memories. The funny thing is that Dumbledore didn't seem the least bit shocked or upset."
Snape scowled. "I swear that man's plans have plans. Sometimes it feels like we're all pawns in his giant game of chess."
"I know I am," Harry sighed. "The hat told me he's already planned for me to defeat Voldemort and marry Ginny Weasley, probably has my career mapped out as well, which is part of the reason why I want to throw a spanner in the works and get Tom his body back."
"So you said Potter but I am still at a loss as to how that will happen."
Harry pulled the diary out that he'd hidden under his pyjama top. "Do you have a quill and some ink I could borrow please sir?"
Snape handed them over, still looking dubious as Harry wrote on the blank page.
Hello again Tom.
Snape's look of curiosity morphed into one of fear as the ink disappeared into the paper and new words appeared in their place.
Hello again Harry. Have you managed to find your elusive potions master?
Harry was just about to reply when Snape grabbed his hand.
"Don't Potter! That is dangerous, especially if you don't know who is replying."
"I know who it is," Harry insisted, "Tom Riddle, Voldemort, the dark lord, whatever you want to call him."
"Just because an unknown book claims to be someone, doesn't make it so," Snape warned.
Harry scowled at him. "Will you let go of my hand so that I can try and prove it to you."
Snape nodded and Harry once again wrote in the diary.
Hey Tom, Snape doesn't believe you're who you say so it might be easier if you just appear like you did before.
I will have to take some of your magical essence for that, came the reply and Snape didn't have time to stop Harry before he wrote " Sure" and then promptly collapsed onto the book and a ghostly looking Hogwarts student appeared, a handsome young man in a Slytherin uniform, and something deep inside Severus screamed 'Mine!'
The student took a deep breath and looked at his hands as he flexed his fingers. "Can definitely feel the phoenix blood." The boy looked up at Severus and gasped. "You're a vampire," the boy stated curiously, "and I'm your mate."
Snape fought to get his instincts under control. "Yes, luckily for you, or else I wouldn't have recognised you like this."
"I was that altered when you met me?" the boy asked.
Snape nodded. "Yes, not that it would have mattered to me, or that you were a turned vampire, although your ridiculously high power level caused issues for us."
"Because I wouldn't submit to you but your vampire instincts wouldn't allow you to completely submit to what it viewed as a lesser creature," the boy surmised.
Snape nodded. "Yes. It put pressure on our bond and I think it's part of the reason behind the fracturing of your mind."
"It certainly wouldn't have helped, no. Thankfully we now have my pet so hopefully a triad will lead to a better balance in our relationship."
"Your pet!" Snape exclaimed.
"Yes, young Harry there. It turns out that he is part phoenix thanks to his bearer and when I killed him it forced a bond between us," the boy explained. "That bond will transfer to you as well since we're mates."
"I will not use a child like that to facilitate our bond," Snape snapped. "He's a child and I am not a paedophile."
"You say that and yet you're lusting after me, yet I am only 16, barely older than he is," the boy leered.
"You're my mate, that's different," Snape huffed trying to hide his blush at getting caught checking out the ghostly form.
"But you can't deny that Harry has the potential to be quite fetching in a couple of years," the boy argued. "Can't you just imagine him on his knees for you."Snape looked over at the young Potter boy and had to admit that there was something about him, a sort of beguiling innocence in his slumbering features that begged to be corrupted. Not to mention the fire that he knew existed in Potter's veins, a defiant streak that he longed to temper. "He will never accept me willingly," Snape confessed, "he hates me."
The boy tilted his head thoughtfully. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. I'm in his head you see, or he's in mine, either way there I can definitely see potential."
"What do you mean?" Snape asked, "I called him out during our first lesson and ended up humiliating him and he has hated me ever since."
The boy shook his head. "Admittedly that didn't ingratiate you to him, although two house points was hardly the end of the world, and it did encourage him to think it was you who was after the stone, but hate is definitely a strong word for what he feels towards you and it can easily be changed, especially after your little conversation just now."
"How?"
"Good attention," the boy stated plainly. "His home life is awful, it practically makes my time at the orphanage look like a walk in the park. He's clearly starved for affection, only been hugged by that awful Weasley woman."
Severus frowned and began stroking Harry's hair. The boy shifted closer to Severus's hand and sighed, encouraging Severus to continue.
"It's enough to make me want to see if three muggles would be enough to bring me back," Tom mused.
"What do you mean 'bring you back'?" Severus asked.
"I can suck the life out of a person in order to renew my body: I was actually hoping to use the Weasley girl earlier today. It typically needs to be a magical but I'm wondering if three muggles might provide enough energy. I don't even think Harry would care if I killed his relatives, they really are that awful."
"What muggle relatives? Not Petunia?"
"Yes that is her name, why?"
"For starters that bitch is a squib not a muggle, Lily and I checked one year," Severus explained. "We also checked and their mother was a squib as well so Lily wasn't technically a Muggleborn either. Secondly I can't believe that Albus left the saviour of the wizarding world with that bitch and had the audacity to tell us all that the boy was safe and well!" Severus exclaimed.
"It's interesting to hear about the squibs but that could certainly help me. One squib and two muggles should be enough to get my body back and then I can work on my mind. It's annoying having the gap between my 16 year old self and today. Thankfully the old coot let slip that my spirit is in Albania and I know just where I would hide out as well. Only need a wand, maybe one for Harry as well since his current one will have that bloody trace charm on it."
"So you plan to go into hiding then?" Severus queried.
"I think it might be for the best," the boy nodded, "especially if we end up covering up the evidence."
"So long as Potter is on board," Snape warned, "this is pointless if he goes running back to Dumbledore."
"Definitely," the boy nodded. "Now we have that squared I should probably go back. I'm not exactly worried about killing the boy, what with him being part phoenix, but it'll probably make things easier if I don't drain him too much."
Snape could only nod in agreement as the ghostly student vanished. Shortly afterwards Potter started to stir and Snape almost reluctantly moved his hand. As soon as he did the boy frowned and looked up blinking.
"This is going to sound strange because I know I was pretty out of it but were you stroking my head Professor?"
Snape gulped. "My apologies Potter, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. The er, dark lord said that you had grown up with Lily's sister and hadn't known much affection. I didn't mean to overstep like that."
"No, it's ok, it felt quite nice actually," Potter admitted. "By the way did you manage to figure out how to get Tom his body back."
"He had the idea of sucking the life out of your relatives, especially since your aunt is actually a squib."
"Really!" Potter grinned, "awesome, can I tell her before we kill her?"
Snape was a little shocked at the outburst. "I suppose. I was friends with your moth-er Lily even before we attended Hogwarts and she had the idea of testing her family one summer to see if they were actually muggles. It turns out her mother and sister could see things with any-muggle charms on so they were technically squibs."
Harry's eyes widened. "Could you make me something like that? It would be fun to wind her up and make her think she was seeing things."
"You clearly have strong feelings about the family," Severus ventured.
"They made me live in the cupboard under the stairs until I got my Hogwarts letter and they freaked out, giving me my cousin's second bedroom," Harry explained, "although they still kept a lock on the outside of the door so I couldn't get out until they let me."
Snape paled. "I understand what the dark lord was talking about and fully condone their murder."
Harry grinned. "Does that mean you'll actually help me sir?"
"Yes Potter, especially if you're actually siding with the dark lord as it will make the prophecy moot, if it wasn't already."
"Oh the sorting hat already said that Dumbledore made that up to cover up James going into hiding so people wouldn't realise he was the one who was pregnant."
Snape took a deep breath to calm down. "That man will burn for that betrayal."
"Glad to hear you're on board," Harry smiled and then yawned loudly. "Think Tom may have taken more out of me than I realised." He stood up and took a step towards the door only to stumble, thankfully Snape was there to catch him.
"I think a night in the infirmary might be a good idea," Snape cautioned, causing Harry to groan. Snape ignored the reaction and deftly picked him up to carry bridal style. "I understand your sentiment Mr Potter but it's for the best. I will claim to have stumbled across you on my rounds and I will be confiscating this cloak of yours until the end of term. You can come and get it from me on the last day and I may have a few other items for you to take home with you as well."
"Oh goody," Harry sighed, snuggling into the potions master as he fought vainly against the draw of sleep. Snape couldn't help but wonder at how light the young man was in his arm, or how comfortable it felt to hold him. Harry seemed to be of a similar opinion as he rested his head in the crook of Severus's neck and dozed off, safe in the knowledge that, at least for now, he would be cared for.