When All is Lost One is Found

Chapter 41: Another Session

When All is Lost, One is Found

Author: Rinoaebastel

Chapter 41: Another Session

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and gain no profit from this fanfiction other than writing practice. JK Rowling owns Harry Potter.

AN: This story may contain scenes taken from the Harry Potter movies and books, but it's not exact dialogue, just rewording of dialogue or omission. It is not marked.

October, 1996

The wind was blowing and the temperature was perfectly suited to his preferences. The day was so relaxing that he could almost forget the crowd of students talking around him.

He could almost forget his problems here. He could almost forget that the man at his side was suffering from a curse that was killing him. Glancing up, he saw the first brown leaves flying freely around the room. Autumn had finally come and with it, once less month of living.

He looked down at his toast covered with honey and his coffee. Another simple pleasant thing he loved. He let a small smile cross his lips and had no fear that anyone would catch it. No one paid attention to the bat of the dungeons except maybe Granger. And with her, he was finding he could care less and less.

She hadn't shown much improvement in her last two sessions, but the girl had managed to play with her thoughts and let him see what she wanted. But he was still able to enter her mind with no effort.

They had talked too. Her questions weren't as annoying as usual and she no longer demanded an answer from him. She gave him the choice to answer or not with no complaint if he didn't. His memories were horrifying at times, but she still stayed.

And he was starting to feel glad she was there. He had forgotten what it was like to have someone to talk to. To not be scrutinized. To not be a target of hate. He took a bite of his toast, about to savor the honey on it, when he felt a gaze on him. His shoulders tensed.

He looked to the right and he found her. At the Gryffindor table, looking openly at him with a small smile and an amusing eyes. She even had the nerve to meet his gaze.

Then sudden nervousness hit her and she looked down slightly. He was learning to read her. She wasn't who he'd once thought she was. She was just a girl who never had a place to belong.

Without thinking, he muttered the spell, wanting to know what was inside her brain right now. In an instant, a feeling of regret and a need to apologize surrounded him. Again.

The empty black space he was seeing morphed to a small storeroom. His potions storeroom. Then the girl, younger than she was now, appeared. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He couldn't believe that she was the one that did this and not Potter.

He saw her grabbing an African boa skin and running back to his classroom. He could see himself in anger, trying to find the student that made his class half sick because of the exploding cauldron.

Tricky girl.

Part of him wanted to laugh; another part was outraged to find out what she did. It was so Slytherin of her.

A panicked feeling surrounded him and he found himself being pushed from her mind. That's exactly what she should be doing.

He blinked softly, his eyes were still on her, but now she appeared to have the constitution of a scared white bird caught by its predator.