The Elephant In The Room

After a restful night of sleep, Harry is awoken once again by a loud pop and opened his eyes to see Snape standing with his arms crossed on his chest looking down at him with an angry scowl.

"Potter! Get up now and get your arse to breakfast! So help me if this happens one more time... You'll be turned into potion ingredients for this year's students," Snape snapped before apparating away once more.

Harry sighed tiredly and got up out of bed, getting dressed and making his way to breakfast at a slow pace. Just because Snape threatened him didn't mean he would rush anywhere just to please the man's satisfaction.

He was of course the last one to arrive to breakfast and refused to make eye contact with any of the staff members as he took his spot at the end of the table next to Snape. He tiredly placed some bacon, eggs and toast on his plate before digging into his meal.

It was about half way through when something crossed his mind.

Snape... Snape had been able to get passed the wards... which meant... which meant Snape was.. Snape was Harry's soul mate.

That thought made Harry drop his toast that was half way to his mouth, getting the attention of some of the staff near him.

"Harry... Harry dear are you alright?" McGonagall asked however Harry didn't hear anything she said.

Pushing his chair back and running out of the Dining Hall, Harry burst through the Entrance Hall and outside all the way down to the lake, feeling like he was about to puke when he reached the edge of the water.

It all made sense now! Snape had vowed to protect his life as a baby, Snape had protected him by bullying him (which still didn't sit well with him), Snape making the only available seat next to him on purpose, Snape studying his face intently at the restaurant, Snape touching him in ways Harry wasn't okay with but his body craved for, Snape getting into his wards as he was his soul mate!

Harry's brain went into shock as he thought things over. He decided to go for a jog to try and clear his mind before he would start on getting some class lessons ready for the first weeks. He started to run right around the lake, losing himself in thoughts of lesson plans and he hadn't realised when his body gave up on running as he completed his second lap around the giant lake.

His body was sweaty and he was struggling to draw in air so he placed his arms above his head to allow more oxygen into his lungs. He started walking up the hill back towards Hogwarts when he noticed that Snape was sitting underneath an oak tree watching him come up towards him.

Harry started walking faster, looking away from Snape as he tried to avoid a confrontation with the man. He wasn't in the right mind to talk with him... or anybody for that matter.

As Harry walked straight passed Snape he heard the older man get up and follow him, calling out his name to get his attention. However Harry kept walking as if he couldn't hear Snape and tried to get as quickly inside the castle as possible.

"Potter!" Snape screamed out. "You stop where you are right this very second or so help me!"

Rolling his eyes, Harry reached the steps of the castle and was about to take his first step up the stairs when he was hit from behind with a stupefy curse.

"Potter," growled Snape as he stood in front of Harry and grabbed onto both of his elbows before Harry felt the spell be undone. "What the hell is your problem this morning? First you leave breakfast as if death is chasing you and then you run laps around the lake!"

Snape gripped his elbows tighter as Harry refused to make eye contact or speak. Harry tried to pull away from Snape but gave up as he heard the whispers of Hogwarts. She was trying to calm down his magic and soothe him. Harry asked her to take him to his rooms and then put the wards on lock down for a while.

"I'll see you later Snape," Harry said, making eye contact before he was ripped from the man's grip and appeared in his room.

Feeling the wards close down, Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you Hogwarts. Hey, can you make a room here for me to run off my magic and energy? So kind of like a training room of some sorts?" Harry asked in his mind, stretching his muscles in his arms and legs.

"I already made a room for you. It is hidden behind the middle bookcase, just use your magic to open it up and close the door behind you so you don't cause any damage to the rest of your room," Hogwarts replied instantly, running her magic through Harry's wild magic to try and calm him down before he caused a lot of damage to the room.

Harry entered the room and closed the door as he was instructed to. The training room as Harry was going to call it held many items which he had always wished to use during his Aurora days but was never allowed as he apparently didn't have the 'body type' for such equipment.

On the left side of the room there was a wall of knives, swords and other weapons to choose from. In the middle of the room there was a dummy set up to use spells and the weapons on. On the right side of the room there was muggle exercise equipment to use to gain more strength and stamina.

Harry chose to work on his knife skills like he used to do as a kid. A secret which no one knew and he didn't intend anyone finding out anytime soon. He spelled the dummy to move around and attack him so he could practice as if he was in an actual fight.

After an hour of wielding his knife around, he moved on to spell work. The dummy moved from left to right, back and forth, and Harry's aim was to hit the dummy either in the chest or in the head depending on which spell he was using.

Another hour and a half passed before Harry deemed it was safe enough for him to leave the room. Upon entering the main area, Harry spotted a house-elf standing in the middle of the room.

"Hello, are you okay there?" Harry asked, kneeling down in front of the elf.

"Oh, yes, Harry Potter sir! Dipsy is doing well. Dipsy be told to come and deliver this letter to you and to make sure you read it," Dipsy the house-elf smiled happily up at him as she held out the letter for him to take.

"Thank you Dipsy. Does the person require a response?" Harry asked as he opened the letter, getting ready to read through it quickly.

"Sir requested a response but said it is not required and he understands if you want your privacy," Dipsy said, bowing and taking a step back to allow Harry room and privacy to read.

Opening the letter, Harry read the following:

Harry,

I don't know what is going on with you... Not one bit. But I want you to talk with me. I am worried about you and after everything you've been through I don't want you to be alone. Please come down to my chambers for a drink tonight after dinner.

If you do not turn up to dinner and the wards are still denying me access to your chambers after dinner then I understand your need for privacy and what not. But please know that you aren't a burden for me... I simple want to be a... well a friend is the best way to put it.

I want to be a friend to you Harry and I want to help you. Please don't shut people out, especially me.

Kind Regards,

Severus Snape.

Placing the letter in his pocket, Harry motioned for the house-elf to leave as a tear ran down his cheek as memories flooded in his brain of how alone he had been throughout his life and not once did he have some he could always trust and turn to. He tried to erect his occlumency shields to stop all of these thoughts but he was too far down the road of pain that he couldn't think of anything but to lie down in his bed and cry like the pathetic baby he was.

This moment was probably the first time in his life that anyone had shown a genuine concern about his mental health and his odd behaviour. Sure he had friends... But they never offered anything of this sort before and that's the reason why he had distanced himself from them as much as possible until the point of them actually forgetting him.

He needed to make his mind up. What was he going to do? Would he go and talk with Snape or would he just continue to lie here pitifully and cry 'boohoo my life sucks'. Harry just didn't know what he wanted to do; if he was honest with himself he wanted to do both.

Casting a tempus charm, Harry saw that he had 30 minutes until dinner was to be served and then roughly another 30 minutes to take down the ward that were stopping Snape from entering.

Harry made up his mind slowly as the minutes ticked on until dinner was being served. He apparated away into Snape's private chamber and lay down on his couch as he continued to cry until he fell asleep waiting for Snape to come back.