To Keep Harry Safe

A/N: Hi, guys. As you know, probably, I started rereading the Harry Potter series. I just finished OOTP the other day, but it occurred to me that Dumbledore is all like, 'oh, sorry that Sirius is dead, bro, but I really shoulda taught you Occlumency myself, huh, lol' and he also says that the reason he wouldn't tell Harry about the prophecy was because he cared about him too much. I really wanted to write something based off Dumbledore and Harry's relationship, so here it is. It's kinda OOC, sorta crappy and justttttt I don't know if it's any good. It's only my third fic for HP that I've posted on here, so it might be complete crap. IDK if it is.

"Harry, Professor Dumbledore is here to see you."

Harry glanced up in sudden surprise, his mouth open, ready to direct his bishop to conquer Ron's pawn. "Professor Dumbledore? What does he want with me?"

"He's in the kitchen, dear," Mrs. Weasley added before sweeping from the room, letting the door swing shut behind her. While Dumbledore had stopped several times to greet Harry whenever entering or just before leaving Grimmauld Place, he had been much too busy to actually stop and chat, merely locking eyes with him to smile one of his mysterious smiles.

"Maybe he just wants to talk?" Ron suggested as Harry stood from the table where they sat playing wizard chess, and started for the door, looking back only to give his friend a helpless shrug. Upon reaching the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley had directed him, he found Dumbledore sitting at the table, absently perusing an old Daily Prophet. Harry couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance when he saw this; surely Dumbledore knew as well as he did that the newspaper was full of lies, so why was he bothering to read it, knowing the kinds of things it said?

"Ah, Harry," Dumbledore smiled gently, meeting the brilliant green gaze with his piercing blue one, and Harry had an odd sensation then, the most curious desire to strike the man before him…but that was insane…he did not want to strike Dumbledore, Dumbledore wasn't a danger to anyone…and besides, Ginny had assured him that he was not being possessed…

A bit shaken, Harry did not take a seat until Dumbledore gestured for him to do so, shoving the old copy of the Prophet away and interlocking his long fingers, gazing over them at the boy wizard.

"Harry, I'm sure you're wondering why I called you here," the headmaster observed quietly.

Harry shrugged noncommittally. "A bit," he responded.

"I've come to inform you that you shall be studying Occlumency this term, with me."

"And, sir, can I ask what Occlumency is?" Harry leaned a bit closer to the older man across the table.

"It is the protection of the mind – I believe that Occlumency acts as a kind of shield, or a very thick wall, for the outermost edges of the human mind, to stop others from entering it without your consent."

It was just as Harry had feared; Dumbledore seemed to think that Voldemort was possessing him as well.

"This is because of the dream I had, about Mr. Weasley and the snake, isn't it?" he asked quietly, half-wishing that Dumbledore would give a different answer.

Instead, the headmaster nodded slowly, bowing his head. "Yes," he replied softly. "It seems that you penetrated so deeply and thoroughly into Voldemort's mind that he became aware of your presence. Though you woke shortly after, it was too late by then – he had realized you were there, and now he might attempt to see into your mind, to possess you. He may not yet have tried it – every wizard acknowledges and accepts that breaching another's mental defenses is a dangerous practice, and most choose to shy away from it. Unfortunately, however, something tells me that Voldemort, who I believe shies from almost nothing, will allow no amount of danger to stop him from delving into your mind."

Harry swallowed. He had been expecting this, had known that after seeing the snake attack Mr. Weasley, the Order would start questioning it, but he had managed to stave off these suspicions after Ginny had convinced him that he had not yet been possessed.

"So, I'm studying Occlumency, I guess, to keep him from getting into my mind?" Harry asked, for clarification.

Dumbledore nodded. "It is the safest route."

"Who's going to be teaching me, then?"

This time, Dumbledore gave a little smile. "I am."

Albus Dumbledore blew out a long, slow breath as he heard the knock on his door, knowing there was only one person who would be visiting him right now, because he had made sure that it would be so. And still, he asked himself if this was a good idea. Opening Harry's mind might only prove to make it easier for Lord Voldemort, in the long run, but what other choice did he have? The ability to close the mind seemed to the only thing Harry could possess at this point that would ensure his and others' complete safety whilst he continued to attend Hogwarts.

"Come in," Dumbledore called, trying not to sound as weary and distressed as he felt; thinking about the strange connection between Harry and Voldemort was draining work. The door opened and Harry entered the room slowly, his green eyes locking instantly onto the headmaster. Dumbledore felt a strange squeezing in his chest when he realized there seemed to be a dark shadow stirring behind the boy's eyes…

Harry, unaware of everything, sat down in the chair Dumbledore indicated, and the headmaster moved in front of him, pulling out his wand.

"What are you going to do?" For the first time, there was a hint of trepidation in Harry's voice.

"I will try to reach within the depths of your mind, and pull out certain memories. You will be expected to resist me as well as you can. You can resort to your wand, if that makes you comfortable, but the important thing is to learn to resist me mentally. Focus all your efforts on getting me out of your mind once I have descended within, and you might surprise yourself with your mental strength."

Harry nervously pulled out his own wand. "I don't want to jinx you, sir."

"And you won't have to," Dumbledore explained patiently. "Not, as I have said, if you repel me mentally, instead of magically."

Harry nodded, but did not relax his position in the chair.

"You have nothing to fear in here, Harry," the headmaster added gently, bending down a bit to speak to Harry. "If you need me to stop, simply tell me so, and of course, I shall stop."

These words appeared to do little for Harry's nerves as well, though in truth, they did make him feel a bit better. Knowing that the boy didn't know what to expect, Dumbledore decided to start quicker than he normally did. "On the count of three, then," he began evenly, readying his wand. "One…two…"

Harry's grip on his wand tightened.

"Three!"

Dumbledore pointed his wand at Harry, knowing how unpleasant this experience could be, knowing how deep he would have to go into the boy's mind before he began to resist that first time. "Legilimens!"

Memories and thoughts that he had never had spilled into Dumbledore's mind: flashes of the Dursleys, the dementor aboard the Hogwarts Express, the Triwizard Tournament last year…Harry's name coming out of the Goblet, Harry's horror at being picked, Hermione hauling him up by the back of his robes and shoving him bodily forward…

Unexpectedly, Dumbledore felt a hard wall going up between them, separating him from the memories, pushing him unmistakably out. A surge of triumph filled him as he realized how quickly Harry was beginning to bar from his mind, before it happened; he was stuck, suddenly, half within the boy's mind, half standing in the office, holding his wand and watching Harry's eyes, the emerald green turning horribly, suddenly into scarlet.

Dumbledore lowered his wand at once, but almost instantly raised it again: Voldemort was not yet gone, Harry was not yet back. The green eyes were still carrying a tinge of red. The tinge grew larger and brighter, the pupils became vertical and Harry rose from his chair, holding his wand in a death grip.

"Harry!" Dumbledore struggled to yell, to pull the boy back within his own body, but whatever had happened was not over yet, for Harry did not react to the call. He continued forward, and Dumbledore, keeping a hold on his wand, knew he could defend himself easily against a fifteen-year-old wizard who was not himself, but there was still a faint shadow of Harry lurking in those pitiless eyes, and he could not bring himself to do it quite yet.

The boy raised his wand and there was a slight hesitation that kept Dumbledore from reaching for his own wand, a hesitation that made the headmaster unable to even use a harmless counterjinx.

"Im…Cr…Av…" Harry was shaking visibly, as if he were trying to throw off an exceptionally heavy and stubborn coat that had fallen on his shoulders, but he was having very little success.

"Harry," Dumbledore took a step forward, lowering his wand and reaching to take the young wizard's shoulder. Knowing there was only one route to take, he pulled his wand up high again, let loose a little sigh, and whispered, "Stup—

"Avada Kedavra!" The last of the boy's strength seemed to leave him as he gave it all to pointing his wand in another direction. A jet of feeble green light fired from the wand, and it ricocheted off the wall, exploding one of the silver instruments.

Wasting no more time, Dumbledore raised his wand once more and said, "Stupefy."

The red burst caught Harry, and he fell backward, his eyes falling closed, landing rather roughly on the wooden floor. Dumbledore winced at the loud 'thud' he made, wishing he had been able to spare the boy, but knowing what would have happened if he had. Kneeling down next to the younger wizard, the headmaster hesitated on reviving him, giving it several long minutes before he did so.

Harry came to with a long, crooked nose only a few inches above him, the glint of golden spectacles somewhere to his right. "Rennervate," Dumbledore was whispering somewhere above him, and Harry adjusted his glasses, sitting up and gently pushing Dumbledore out of the way. "What happened? Did I pass out?"

Oddly, the headmaster appeared to be hesitating. Finally, he nodded gently. "Yes. Yes, you passed out. It appears I delved so deeply into your mind that you lost control, and you fainted. It's alright."