Summary:

AU. The Skull and Snake Killer is on the loose and Detective Harry Potter is on the case. But just why is the killer so focused on Harry? And will Harry be able to catch him before it is too late? Tom/Harry Slash

Notes:

So, this is sort of my take on a situation where Harry Potter characters take the place of characters from the T.V. show Dexter. You do not need to have seen Dexter in order to understand what is going on, though.

The chapters will be short. Whenever there is a break in the scene, there will be a new chapter. I am doing this to encourage myself to actually update with some regularity.

"I said I'm fine," Harry emphasized with exasperation, slouching down in his armchair and crossing his arms across his chest. It made him look more like a petulant teen than the accomplished 26 year old detective that he was, which he blamed entirely on Snape. Well respected psychiatrist that he was, he was also the absolute last person that Harry wished to open up to. Why Dumbledore had thought this would be a wise decision was beyond him.

"Yes, clearly," Snape responded with biting sarcasm. "You know, we are going to have to talk about that night eventually." His eyes bore into Harry's defiant green ones until finally the young detective sighed.

"What is there to talk about? Sirius is dead and no amount of talking is going to fix that," the black haired youth declared solemnly, turning away from Snape's penetrating gaze. "Look, can't you just clear me for duty already?"

Snape let out a small derisive snort and Harry wondered if the man was like this with all of his clients or if he was just a special case. "You know it doesn't work that way, Mr. Potter. You have to prove to me that you are fit to return to duty before I will sign off for it. The only way to do that is to actually talk about that night. Now, we can either waste both your and my time sitting here arguing about this or you can speak with me about what happened."

Harry huffed, annoyed, but resigned to his fate. He might as well just get it over with. "He called me, the Skull and Snake killer I mean, from Sirius's cell phone. He told me to come alone or I would never see my Godfather again. Told me not to call anyone else or he'd know. I only called Ron, from a burner phone, because I trusted him not to involve the entire department. We went to the abandoned warehouse down on the south side of town that he wanted us to meet at. Ron waited outside. By the time I got in there, the killer was already gone and Sirius…Sirius was hanging from the rafters with a skull mask on and a snake wrapped around his neck. I-I didn't want to believe it was him, but a part of me knew. If I hadn't called Ron, maybe…I don't know-I just wish I could go back and…I don't know." Harry shook his head and wiped fiercely at the tear tracks making their way down his face. It was his fault, all his fault, if only he had just…he honestly didn't know. Somehow he had a feeling Sirius would have wound up dead either way, but not knowing if he could have changed the outcome was the worst part. He refused to look at Snape, not wanting to see disgust in the man's eyes, or worse, pity. He knew that Snape hadn't mourned for Sirius-it was a well-known fact that they'd hated each other's guts-and opening up to Snape of all people felt like a betrayal. At least he could trust in Snape's discretion, if nothing else.

"Are we done here?" Harry cut in before Snape had a chance to respond. He needed to get out of here, needed to go back to work, to the only thing that kept him from replaying that night on repeat over and over again and wondering what if…?

Snape sighed, but it sounded tired, rather than irritated. "You didn't do anything wrong, Potter," he spoke softly, but firmly. "You won't be able to move on until you've accepted that. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded, numbly, not sure how else to respond. He understood perfectly well, but actually doing so was another matter. He had a feeling Snape knew this, but the older man didn't push.

"Time's up. We'll continue this on Thursday." Snape shut his notebook with a snap and walked back to his desk in clear dismissal.

Harry couldn't get out of there fast enough.