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A Prince in Lion's Clothing	By : Sablesilverrain Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Tom Views: 36570 -:- Recommendations : 7 -:- Currently Reading : 9
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or anything you recognise here. I make no money off of this, and am writing it purely for entertainment. Don't take it too seriously.

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Severus sighed. He was going to be back to walking his usual tightrope again, serving the Dark Lord and trying to stay in Dumbledore’s good graces at the same time.

The truth of the matter was that he had never stopped serving the Dark Lord, and when he came across Lily’s dead body, he had cast a spell—using the Prince family magic—that he should never have had the strength to cast.

But his grandfather, Septimius, as well as Harry, unbeknownst to Severus, had felt the call, and the three sources pooled together allowed him to cast the spell to detect what had happened in the room.

He watched as Lily faced the Dark Lord, watched as the Dark Lord bade her step aside—three times—before killing her, resigned to the apology he’d have no doubt made to Severus when he got back.

He had tried to spare her. It had been her own foolish choice to sacrifice her own life to save her son’s, and Severus wept again, the tears bitter that time.

He’d been so close to being able to have her, or at least continue to love her from afar, if she chose to reject him again. He could have contented himself with that, if he had needed to.

But no. She had chosen to die for her baby, and Severus had lost his first true friend and dearest love.

But now… He had so much more to live for, to cherish.

How could she have kept his own son from him? She had to know there was a chance it could be his, they had been having their affair up until she had conceived.

Perhaps it was James.

Perhaps he had found out, and made her stop seeing him, and he had claimed the child as his own, despite the fact that any paternity test would dispute that fact.

They obviously never intended to let him undergo one.

But here they were, Harry and Severus, brought together by a happy accident, and Severus would do his part now to make sure wrongs were righted.

Like Harry’s blind allegiance to Dumbledore. Severus thought. That has got to end.

The Dark Lord would welcome another Prince, and if Harry looked so much like James with no blood relation, there was only one possibility: There was a glamor on him. It could be removed, and he would no doubt end up looking very much like Severus.

They would tell the Dark Lord who he was, but perhaps only after he had agreed to give the boy a chance, to stop trying to kill him.

After all, weren’t you supposed to keep your enemies even closer than friends? Surely the Dark Lord would see the sense in turning the situation around and taking a possible foe and turning him into an ally.

At least, Severus could hope.

*****

“I think I may vomit.” Harry said by way of greeting as he sat beside Neville for dinner.

Neville looked at him in mild surprise. “Well, do it that way, then.” He said, indicating Harry’s other side.

Harry laughed wryly. “Really, though, the first task is tomorrow!” He mourned.

“Yes, but you're ready.” Neville said encouragingly. “You've got a plan and you know what to do. You'll be fine.” He said.

Harry got himself some food and began to eat. “I suppose you're right. Got another lesson with Snape tonight.” He added.

Neville made a face. “Good luck with that. How are things going there?” He asked.

Harry smiled. “Pretty good, actually.” He lowered his voice and leaned closer. “Don’t tell anyone, but the ‘remedial potions’ thing is just a cover. He's actually teaching me Occlumency.”

Neville looked impressed. “Wow. Is it going well? That's powerful stuff, but it takes a strong mind.”

“That's what he said. It's actually not going too bad. He's easier to learn from when you're willing to put forth the effort and when you're not actively blowing up a cauldron.” Harry said in amusement.

Neville laughed. “I'll bet.”

“He...” Harry glanced around first to make sure he wasn’t being listened to, then, satisfied, he continued, “He actually helped me out with some pretty heavy stuff, before we really got down to it. He’s a good man, really.”

Neville eyed Harry for a long moment, then nodded. “I’ll take your word for it. Doesn’t make me like him any more, though.”

Harry grinned. “Yeah, nor he you. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be the first to admit he’s a right bastard in class.”

“But if there’s good there, I suppose that’s all that matters.” Neville said lightly.

Harry nodded and their conversation moved on to other things.

“Well,” Harry said once dinner had died down, “Got to be off. Lesson time.” He said lightly.

Neville hummed his agreement. “Don’t be too late coming back. You’ll need your full eight hours tonight, at least.” He said.

Harry nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll get it.” He assured the other teen.

He hurried down to Severus’ classroom and walked in. Severus was sitting cross-legged on the floor, wearing sweats.

Harry saw his robes thrown over a chair, but he couldn’t have been wearing those under them all day long!

“I wasn’t. I changed before dinner.” Severus answered his unvoiced question. “Come. Sit with me.” He patted the floor in front of him.

Harry frowned. “How did—”

“I know what you were thinking?” Severus cut him off, amused.

“Well, yeah.”

“Your every thought is evident on your face. I will teach you better, but that will be later. For now, I’m going to teach you a skill that will help you guard your mind. I believe you have never felt a moment of true peace, have you?” Severus asked.

Harry shook his head. “No, Sir. Not really.” He confirmed, taking a seat in front of Severus, facing him.

Severus nodded. “We will be meditating. Close your eyes, and focus on your breathing. Let mundane thoughts and cares slip away, and just be for a while.” He said calmly.

Harry closed his eyes and began breathing deeply and evenly, like Severus was.

Thoughts of the Triwizard Tournament and classes tried to intrude, and he wondered idly what purpose this served, exactly.

“Focus, Harry.” The man repeated, as if sensing his thoughts.

Harry felt himself flush. “Sorry.” He whispered.

“Don’t apologize. Just breathe.” Severus told him firmly.

Harry tried again to clear his mind. He focused intently on his breathing.

In, hold, out. In, hold, out. Steady and sure. One breath after another.

After several long moments, Severus spoke in a whisper. “Do you feel that?” He asked.

Harry frowned. “What?”

“That serenity inside.”

Harry paused, then, “Yeah.” He said in realization.

It wasn’t until that moment that he realized he’d been tense, for one reason or another, as long as he could remember.

And it had taken meditating with Severus to finally teach him what calm felt like.

“I want you to meditate every time things seem to be getting to be too much for you. If you feel you absolutely must, you may come see me, but do not get caught. It will help you. Now that you know what true calm feels like, I want you to let that feeling fill you up.” He stood. “And prepare yourself.”

Harry gulped and called up the feeling of peace and contentment and held it in his mind, not letting anything else ruin it.

He felt Severus slip in and go searching, and focused on that calm feeling, holding onto it for dear life.

Severus was twisting around inside him, searching for something, but he wasn’t pulling up any memories this time! Was Harry really doing it?!

Then, he was watching his first Occlumency lesson again, and he groaned.

Severus pulled out of the memory and chuckled. “Just couldn’t hold it anymore, huh?” He teased.

“I did much better this time!” Harry said excitedly.

Severus nodded. “Yes, you did. I am proud of you. Though, if you ever tell anyone I said those words to you, I will deny it until my dying day.” He said in amusement.

Harry laughed.

“We have thirty minutes, and you know enough to keep most people out, though it will take you some time to attain my level of skill. We will keep trying to better you, of course, but first, there is a conversation I wanted to have with you.” Severus said, sitting in a chair in front of a desk.

Harry took the chair behind it. “What kind of conversation, Sir?”

“A serious, important one. About loyalty.” Severus said solemnly.

Harry nodded. “Alright.”

“You know that in this world, there is both a light faction, and a dark one, right?”

Harry nodded. “Yeah. Dumbledore leads the light one and Voldemort, the dark.” He said.

“Please do not use is name in front of me. You may call him the Dark Lord, but do not call him that in front of anyone else.” Severus said.

Harry nodded again. “Sorry.” He said.

Severus merely nodded his acceptance of Harry’s apology. “Now, what values would you say the light espouses?” He asked.

Harry frowned. “Well, they don’t like dark magic. They like loyalty.”

“Both sides like loyalty, though only the light will ask for it blindly.” Severus corrected.

“Oh.” Harry thought again. “Well, the light likes love.”

“Again, both sides value it. Though the dark can sometimes hide it rather well, and they share theirs only with those they trust, while the light side will give theirs more readily.” Severus told him.

“The light doesn’t kill.” Harry said sharply.

Severus smiled slowly. “Ah. But they do. When it suits their purpose. Did you know, that during the first war, the Aurors were given licence to shoot to kill, if the target was a Death Eater? Your father killed a good deal of men.” He revealed.

“They were bad men!” Harry told him. “And he’s not my father, remember?!”

Severus nodded. “Sorry. James Potter, then. But, Harry, they were still men. A lot of them had families they loved, people that would miss them. And their lives were taken with hardly a thought to that.”

“They were killing people, too!” Harry said sharply.

“They were.” Severus agreed. “They were killing Muggles, though. Not wizards and witches.”

Harry frowned. “Well, that may be true, but Muggles are people, too.”

“Do you know what kinds of Muggles the Dark Lord had people go after? Did you ever ask Dumbledore?” Severus asked him.

Harry shook his head.

“I will tell you, then. The dark Lord only sent his Death Eaters after Muggles that had harmed a witch or wizard. Other magical people were not to be harmed, unless they got in the way. Even then, the Death Eaters were instructed, whenever possible, to shoot non-lethally, only.” Severus told him.

“Were you a Death Eater?” Harry asked.

Severus smiled thinly. “Perhaps. My point is, Harry, that both sides of the war we are currently on hold from had their dark underbelly. Both sides were in the wrong at times. You need to think long and hard about which side you plan to help. The light will ask for blind allegiance, and they will keep things from you, for your own good. The dark will answer any questions you have to the best of their ability so you can make an informed choice, and they ask only that you ask them before you betray the dark.”

Harry swallowed nervously, then whispered, “Do you want me to go dark?”

Severus shook his head. “I don’t care which you pick, except that I want you to make an informed choice. I walk both sides, Harry. I am a man of two leaders. When you make your decision, I will reveal which side has my true loyalty, and if you choose to fight me in the end, so be it. We will fight, and one of us will emerge victorious. Don’t tell anyone else about this, though. Think on it. Next week, we will practice Occlumency a bit more, and then have another discussion. By then, you will have had time to come up with questions, questions that I will do my best to answer. Do not choose a side until you have all the pertinent information, or at least enough to stand firm in your choice. I will still care for you either way. You will always be my son, no matter your choice. I just don’t want you going into either side blindly. Only fools do that, and Princes are not a family of fools.” He said, standing. “Now, it’s time for you to get to bed. Do you need dreamless sleep?” He offered.

Harry shook his head. “No, thank you, Sir. I saved the other half of the bottle for tonight.”

Severus smiled. “A wise choice. Get some sleep, and think on our discussion tomorrow. After you face whatever danger they’re putting you in.” He said.

Harry sighed. “It’s dragons.” He muttered.

Severus hummed. “I’m not even going to ask how you know that. Good night, Harry.”

Harry turned to leave, mind whirling with information. “Good night, Severus.” He said, heading back toward Gryffindor Tower.
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A Prince in Lion's Clothing