It just...happened...

The three Gryffindors were merrily munching on food
and downing some drinks when a sudden question
from Neville awoke them from their chatter.

“Have any of you noticed how Snape’s been lately?”
he asked almost timidly. The three of them turned their
heads to the normal reserved and never-speaking-of-Snape, Neville Longbottom and shrugged aimlessly.

“A bastard?” Harry offered as Ron chuckled loudly,
Neville forced a smile on his face that promptly
disappeared as he looked up to the head table.
Hermione whirled her dark head around at this
and saw Snape’s furious glare leave the table
as she turned.

“No.” Neville answered shortly, “I…he’s been looking
over at this table an awful lot.” He said, loosening the
tie he wore nervously, “Why would he do that? Does
he really suspect me cheating on the test? Does he think
that we’re plotting something?”

His incessant cries died as his eyes went back to
his food, almost filling up with tears. Hermione looked
to him sympathetically, the poor boy was always
worrying about something.

“That could be a factor Neville…” Harry said chewing,
as Hermione took a sip of her pumpkin juice, “Or he can’t
keep his eyes of Hermione.”

Hermione in a state offusefused surprise promptly choked
on her drink at that precise moment and then involuntarily
spat it out, looking to Harry incredulously.

“What amazing manners, Granger.” Said a voice from
behind them, and suddenly Hermione realized why
Neville had stopped talking. She groaned inwardly and
looked up to the man who haunted her days.

“Good afternoon sir.” She mumbled, wiping her lips
with the back of her hand as Severus grimaced, she embarassedly clasped her hands together on her lap.
Snape couldn’t help but smirk at the agitation his
mere presence caused her…his work was paying off.

“I was merely coming over to remind you ofr obr obligations
tonight.” Severus said, his eyes sweeping the
Gryffindor table, resting for a lingering momon Ron Ron
and then turning back to her. “But I’m afraid I must have caught you at a bad time.”

There was a snort from the Slytherin table, as Malfoy
and some other blonde bloke no one had seen before,
and some of the snotty girls from the said table. Snape
looked to them reproachfully, but confident as if he had
some own personal henchmen and with a swirl of his
robes he made his way out of the hall.

“Why’d you have to say that?” Hermione said to Harry
as she tried to hide her face in shame. God that
overgrown bat was always creeping about…it was
damn near frightening.

Ron and Harry chuckled good-naturedly as Hermione
turned bright red and mumbled something about having
to go to the library after lunch. She scowled and
forked some more potatoes onto her fork, shoving
them rather ungracefully into her sullen mouth.

Ron looked to Harry a moment, who suddenly had
a rather far off look in his eyes, looking out the window
as if seeing something he hadn’t before. Ron looked
behind him, trying to see the same thing but saw only
the sky.

Harry wasn’t hearing anything around him, not the
incessant grumbling of the humiliated Hermione, not
seeing the bewildered look Ron was shooting at him…
he was lost in a memory.


* * *

Harry looked to him with sudden defiance and
before Voldemort could do more, Harry had
brandished the wand meant for Ron, prepared
to scream out the first thing that came to mind…

Voldemort chuckled darkly, his own hand opening as
Ron’s wand flew into his open grasp. Harry felt his
utter hope leave him, his eyes filling with angry and
defiant tears. He was going to die…

“Ah Potter.” Voldemort said walking closer to the
trembling young man, admiring his sudden
handsome features and hiding some innerlouslousy.
“You look just like your father did…crying like a baby.”

Harry looked to Voldemort helplessly; trying to stop the
raging fury and fear that was imbedded in him.
“You’re a liar.” He said breathlessly, trying to focus
on the blurred image in front of him.

“Oh am I?” Voldemort said mocking the young boy, rolling
his bulging red eyes at the helpless worm below him. “Funny. That’s exactly what your mother said,
when I told her your father was dead.”

The snow fell peacefully all around them, Hogwarts
was almost in sight and Harry could almost feel and
hear the students and idle chatter around him. All those
times berating the idiots who kept him awake at night
with their talking…how he’d give anything to be back there.

Harry didn’t say anything now though, there was nothing
he could say to help him. He was at the mercy of a
crazy wizard who wanted nothing more than to see
him dead…but first to bask in his seeming victory.

“You should have seen them…. Harry….” he said his
name in a way that Harry’s flesh crawled.
“They were so pitiful, you could hear there screams
all over, your mother the harlot and your father the coward.”

Harry looked to Voldemort with a sudden unprecedented
rigid fury that ran all through him, making his head pound
as he suddenly prepared to spring forward, making
guttural growling noises involuntarily. His green eyes
were flashing brilliantly as he prepared to strike the
bastard that had done this all to him, put him through
such misery the-

But before Harry could take one step to kill him,
a heavy hand fell upon his shoulder.

* * *

“Harry…c’mon, we’ve got to get to the common room
for studying!” Hermione said incessantly pulling at
Harry’s robe. Harry broke from the hypnotic state he
was in to look at her and nod, pick up his bag and
follow her out the hall door.

Hermione and Ron were out the door a moment
before Harry and Ron fcompcompelled to ask.
“What’s his problem?”

Hermione looked to him suddenly wary,
“Why, you’d know better than anyone Ron. Harry
can’t stop thinking about last Christmas…you know…”
she added seeing his vacant stare. “Voldemort.”

Ron shot her a look of sudden interest, and stepped
closer to her. “He’s really haunted by it…must’ve been
horrible.”

“Well he won’t tell me what really happened. Only
that he met up with Voldemort and nearly died.”
Hermione said curtly, “But I assume since you two
are real chaps he’s informed you of all of it already.”

Ron shrugged and was about to say more when
Harry emerged from the hall, the light shining behind
him and giving him an almost holy look. He looked to
his two friends suspiciously, as if he knew they
had been talking about him.

“Let’s go study.” Harry said withdrawn, slinging his
bag over his shoulder, and shuffling down the hall.
Hermione and Ron looked to each other as they trailed
behind him…looking sheepishly to one another.

They made their way over to the staircase and
prepared to go downstairs to the Library for some ‘materials’…(a.k.a. Hermione’s indulgence.)
and then head back up to the Gryffindor tower for
some serious studying before their next classes.

Harry turned to look over to his two friends a moment, preparing to tell them something when he suddenly
fell with a sickening thud down the stairs below…

He didn’t appear to be breathing.