I Was Younger Then

Equivalent Exchange

"Charming, isn't it?" her intruder said, pleasantly, looking around the room.

"It could do with some more color, if you ask me," replied Penny.

"An interesting observation."

"What does that mean?" Penny said, not bothering to hide her distrust.

"Your expression invited me here, not vice-versa."

He watched her curiously, his expression serene. It unsettled Penny, who sat stiffly in her armchair. If this was truly her mind, why did it not feel more familiar? And how on earth had she invited this nuisance? The idea that her magic was doing anything without her knowing worried her.

"Who or what are you?" Penny said, slowly.

"I'm Tom."

"Tom...?"

"Just Tom," he confirmed, leaning forward in his chair to rest his elbows on his thighs.

His handsome eyes glinted in the light, and he smiled pleasantly at Penny. His appearance was quite unexpected for someone who caused so much pain getting into her head. He had a full head of lush brown hair that matched his dark brows and handsome brown eyes. Everything about him was charming. He was unnaturally pretty, like Diggory, except his eyes glinted with a perceptiveness Penny had not seen before.

"Okay, just Tom, where are we and what are you? I've never seen you before," Penny said, absent-mindedly sliding forward in her seat.

"Only you can tell us where we are, this is, after-all, your party. As I said, I am here because your expression called me here."

"Well, let me formally show you out, because my expression was mistaken" Penny replied, pointing to the door.

Tom chuckled softly, but the amusement did not reach his eyes. Something behind them unsettled Penny. His presence intermingled with the feeling of her own, as though he were embedded in her. The intrusion felt suffocating, like a snake was slowly squeezing the life out of her.

"Tell me, were you aware of what you were doing back there, with Severus, any idea what you did to him?"

Penny's heart nearly burst with fear, she had been uncertain what she had done, and was worried she had hurt the man. She wanted to blame Tom, but she knew all of it had burst forth from her uncontrollable anger at the truth she knew Snape was hiding from her.

"He will recover," he added, piercing her with a knowing stare.

"Let me go back and help him," Penny begged.

"I told you, I can't do that. You have been repressing your expression for some time. Much like an obscurial, it has become destructively attached to your emotions. Meaning, when you lose control, it does as well. As of now, your body is engulfed in the chaotic energy. I removed your consciousness from its connection to your nervous system to protect your mind from the. . .effects," said Tom, standing

He moved across the room to the bar and began pouring the two of them a drink. He offered the first to Penny, who accepted it. It felt as though the world had dropped out beneath her. She recalled Snape's rage when he had entered Dumbledore's office, and how Dumbledore said she had "somehow managed", and the need for a ministry inquiry, it all began to make sense. It wasn't just about Grindelwald, she has a ticking time bomb without ever realizing it.

"Effects. . .?"

He sat back down, and remained silent for a moment before responding. "You are familiar with obscurials, no?"

Penny nodded, it had been a subject she read during her summer at the Dursleys. She found it to be a fascinating topic, albeit, horrifically sad.

"Unfettered expression operates much in the same manner as an obscurus, the difference being that the destruction evoked turns inwardly instead of outward. Your power overloads every nerve of your body when it has been unable to be released. When practiced properly, it is ideally distributed back to the atoms it was taken from, that connection you likely feel with the life around you. Yours seems to find an outlet in your emotions, hence what happened with Severus."