Harry Potter One Shots

Occlumency

All rights belong to the author, Beans

"You spoiled rotten brat!" Uncle Vernon bellowed, his eyes half crazed as he reached for the squirming five year old Harry Potter. "Get over here. Are you deaf? I said GET OVER HERE!"

With one huge sweep of his meaty hands, he grabbed Harry tightly on his upper arms as Harry tried to run into his cupboard. Harry cried out, trying weakly to get out of his uncle's grasp. Uncle Vernon very roughly pivoted Harry's body to face his; his eyes were bloodshot and half crazed, his eyelids drooping slightly and he swayed on his feet. Harry bit his lip, cowering and leaning away from Uncle Vernon's face that kept creeping closer and closer to his. It was glowing a bright red color in anger and drunkenness.

"It's YOUR fault!"

"Please, Daddy, please..." a small boy cowered crying in a corner of a dank room with peeling yellowed wallpaper. His hands were raised protectively over his already bruised face. "Please..."

"You disgusting child," the man croaked out, wobbling closer to the boy.

"H-How is it my fault, Uncle Vernon?" Harry trembled and his glasses were inching down the bridge of his nose. He couldn't reach up to push them up since Uncle Vernon still had a tight grip on Harry's arms. "I-I am aw-awfully s-s-sorry your favorite football team l-l-lost, but I d-don't know how it's m-my f-f-fault."

"I dunno!" Uncle Vernon shouted, his spit flying in Harry's flinching face. "You magically voodoo-ed it or something!"

Harry adamantly shook his head, "No!" he cried, "no, I didn't I swear!"

"DON'T LIE TO ME BOY!"

"Daddy, I'm sorry, it was an accident!" the boy wailed, struggling to keep his legs remained seated as his father forcefully picked him up by the wrists.

"No you didn't boy!" his father snarled. "You hexed me on purpose! You and you fucking magic freaks!"

"Daddy please don't, please..." the boy screamed as he felt a fist come contact with his stomach. "OH! PLEASE! STOP! DADDY! STOP!"

Harry tasted blood in his mouth as his small body was thrown to the floor. "You're TRASH!" Uncle Vernon screamed, a vein in his temple becoming pronounced on his sweaty forehead. "You're nothing but dirty, rotten trash! You and your parents alike!" he then took the tip of his boot and rooted it deeply in the boys abdomen. Harry tried to tuck into himself to weaken the blows, but found he couldn't without screaming in pain at the sharp pangs he felt near his ribs...

"STOP!" fifteen year old Harry Potter cried in his mind at his professor's invasion. "STOP!"

Professor Snape pulled down his wand, eyeing Harry with an unreadable expression on his face. "Did that happen often, Potter?" his cool voice sounded indifferent, maybe even a little sarcastic to an outsider, but the look on Snape's face made Harry feel slightly uncomfortable.

"How's it mind you?" Harry answered irritably, panting slightly at the exhaustion his mind was suffering from. Snape merely raised an eyebrow, not answering vocally but more with a scowl that spoke in ways words didn't. "What, does it surprise you that I really wasn't raised a prince? I'm not that pampered pompous boy you always posed me to be?" Harry was on a roll now, snarling and spitting as he spoke loudly at Snape. "Well I've got news for you sir," he spat the word condescendingly, "I'm not a spoiled brat and I wasn't brought up being served like a prince, as you just saw. Now are you finished invading my mind? Because I doubt I could do very much for the rest of the night."

Snape was silent for a moment with a calculated look on his face. To Harry's displeasure, he almost appeared like he was going to make Harry sit through more Occlumency lessons tonight, which he wasn't really in the mood for. Instead, surprisingly, Snape turned his back to Harry to retreat to his pensieve. He waved his hand absentmindedly, dismissively, "Fine, go. I expect you here Thursday at the same time. Don't be late. I have enough to do without waiting for you to get around to coming to the lessons."

Harry took a second to digest Snape's words, not exactly sure if he should be offended and retort, before deciding that a witty comment would only do him bad. He turned on his heel and ran gratefully from the room.

Snape listened at Harry's receding footsteps down the corridor of the dungeons. Silently, he put his wand tip into the pensieve water, placing the memories back into his mind. He tried not to let Harry's memory get to him, but he just couldn't forget the familiar look on Harry's uncle's face out of his mind.

Well, so what if they had a little in common, he thought to himself critically. It doesn't mean anything. It's not like he had this whole new respect for the arrogant bastard now.

Snape shook his head, trying to convince himself that as he dimmed the lights in his office and made his way to his own rooms.

Damn it, how he was not looking forward to the Occlumency lessons next week.