It's not easy to explain, but . . .

Chapter 24

Taking a quick look around, he saw the gently simmering cauldrons, with what he assumed, correctly, was the supply of 'Felix Felicis' Severus had been tasked with brewing.  While Harry was perusing the room, Severus stepped over to the cauldrons and checked on the progress of the potion.  Nodding to himself that all seemed to be well, he turned and addressed 'The Boy Who Lived', a slight smile playing on his face.

"I have to tend to this potion for a few minutes and considering that you've never been in this room, Potter, why don't you enlighten yourself by carefully read the labels and make note of any you've never heard of before."  Severus waved his hand, indicating the vast selection of jars, bottles and packets lined up on the shelves. "But, do not touch anything."

"Right," Harry nodded.

As Snape walked from one cauldron to another, he continued. "No students, of mine at least, have ever set foot in this room.  Horace Slughorn probably allowed members of his 'Club' entry, but I have not deemed it prudent, until now."

"In that case, Professor, I'll be very careful," replied Harry, as he put his hands behind his back, before turning to the first set of bottles.  He'd had a thought and as he walked over and started looking down the long lines of bottles, he smiled inwardly, waiting. 

Sure enough, about half-way down the first row, he felt a small 'nudge' in his thoughts, almost as if he was second guessing what he'd seen.  He re-read the label and then mentally thought, 'That's what I thought it said'.  Snape give a small snort, but Harry didn't make any indication he was aware of the sound.  Moving on, he felt another 'thought' intruding into his brain, suggesting he 'ask for some parchment'.

Stopping, he turned and looked around, his eyes landing on a few small pieces of parchment sitting on the work table.  He saw Snape out of the corner of his eye, watching to see what he'd do, a scowl on his face.  Harry turned back to the bottles, but in his mind he thought 'ah, there's some scraps if I need them'. 

Concentrating, he started looking at the labels on the next row of bottles, but after a few moments, he felt as if someone was looking over his shoulder, mentally, trying to see past what he was reading and trying to 'listen in' on his thoughts.  Harry deliberately made his mind think only of the ingredients he was seeing and wondered which potions they might be used in or where they had been gathered.  He fought hard to keep from drifting off into any of his memories, or thinking of anything but the potions lab.  When he felt himself losing control he turned to Severus.

"Professor?"  he asked.  "Sorry to interrupt, but what are 'Sook paddles'?"

Severus didn't look up from the potion he was stirring, but pointed and said, "Parchment, Potter."

"Oh, right. Sorry"  Picking up a small square, he took a pen, that Emma had given him, from his pocket and wrote down the name, with a question mark and source underlined.  Next, he turned to a group of dried ingredients . . . all familiar names, but he knew them to be rare, to say the least.  'Bet these cost Severus a bit of the ready!'  He was rewarded with another small snort from his teacher. 

Careful not to dwell on knowing Severus was 'sneaking around' in his mind, Harry let his mind drift off to thoughts of Knockturn Alley and his accidentally landing in Borgin and Burkes in his second year.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Severus' jaw twitch. So he decided to surprise him. 'Not one of your favorite establishments, eh, Severus?' he thought, with wicked glee.

Snape whirled around and stared at him, open mouthed.  "How long have you known I was listening to your thoughts, Potter?" he hissed. 

"From the start, sir.  I was thinking you might take advantage of me being distracted by reading all these labels and see what you could find,"  Harry replied, pointing to his head.  "It just felt like I was 'multitasking thoughts', but it also felt a bit like you were looking over my shoulder, mentally.  Not unpleasant and if I hadn't been aware of your ability to do so, would have never know the difference." 

"I see.  Well, this is totally different than what I expected and it shows how wrong I was, trying to teach you with my other method.  I apologize for that, Potter," said Severus, sitting down on one of the stools. 

"No need, sir, as it never happened." Harry waved a hand, to show it was not a concern.

"Thank you, Potter," replied Severus.  "You're very adept, without any training. . . perhaps it's a natural talent that wasn't discovered." 

"Ah, well, Dan and I were talking about just that, sir, and it seems we have all missed the point a bit. . .  Voldemort is not using Legilimency on me, to get into my thoughts; it's his connection to me because I'm one of his Horcruxes.  Same reason I can talk with snakes; it's his talent, I just get to be a Parseltongue, as long as part of him is alive in me.  The good news is . . . he doesn't realize this as he doesn't know I'm a Horcrux." 

"I believe you are correct in that bit of reasoning; he's not making eye contact with you, he's not even anywhere near Hogwarts.  The Dark Lord honestly thinks it's the spell of Magical protection that Lily put on you, when he was coming to kill you, that has connected you two all this time."

"Exactly what Dan said, and I, for one, am not going to tell him any differently, but that is why I do need to get good at burying all this new knowledge I've been handed over the last few days."  Harry looked at Severus and sat up straighter. "So . . . where do we go from here?  I need to know how to block out his attempts at rummaging through my memories." 

"You did fairly well against my intrusion." 

"Only because I knew you were there, sir.  If I am truly distracted, I need to know how to do an 'emergency'. " Harry used his fingers to do a quotation sign. "Shut down, to hide anything he could find useful."

"Alright, let's try this . . . "

* * * *

Lunch found everyone in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, having spent the morning going through the movies, looking at key scenes and comparing them to the matching chapter in the books.  Kreacher was floating a big tureen of stew onto the table, while everyone passed a basket full of hot, crusty rolls.

"That stew smells  . . .  wonderful," exclaimed Rupert, as the huge white bowl floated past him to land, with a thump, in the middle of the table in front of Molly, who began ladling the steaming concoction into bowls and handing them over, to be passed around. 

"Thank you, Mr. Rupert, sir, Kreacher is hoping you is going to think it tastes good, too." 

"I'm sure it will be splendid, Kreacher," said Emma, bestowing a smile on the ancient House Elf.  "Everything you have served us has been absolutely mouthwatering." 

"Oh, thank you, Miss."  This praise from the pretty Muggle made Kreacher blush and hustle back to tend to the dessert, which being prepared on the sideboard.

"Wonder how Harry is doing?"  Tom asked, while buttering his roll.

"If Severus tries a different method,  I think he'll do splendidly," answered Dan. "Those two work well together, now that they really understand the whole story of how they are connected."

"Speaking of the whole story," Hermione said, looking around the table. "What do you think will happen when you all go back tomorrow?  Do you have any worries?"

"Not really," Tom replied. "Draco was sure we'd be able to set you all on the right path and when we do go back, he's got something rigged where we won't remember any of this, so we'll be right back where we started . . . none the wiser and living our lives just as we were when Harry and company showed up on Dan's doorstep." 

"But, won't you want to know if it worked?" persisted Hermione. 

"Oh, we'll get the details and then we'll get put back in time where we belong.  It's hard to explain, but . . . Draco says it'll all be just fine, in the end."