Binaries

By BEWD Sorcerer

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, then we'd love it even more, but since I don't, we have to settle for fanfiction.

AN: Why do I have this feeling that a bunch of you just looked at the reviews and saw who 'G' is? #sighs, shaking head# Doesn't matter now. Harry still doesn't remember, so there will be some frustration because the reader (you) will be bouncing up and down in your chairs, screaming at Harry who 'G' is, but Harry can't hear you. There's a specific word for it, but I can't remember...

Also, as much as I would love to keep calling Kieran 'Harry', I'm going to just have to let it go as Harry - at least until something big happens. Look at it closer if you don't get what I mean.

#flash#

/spell/

#thoughts#

"Out loud speech, English"

'Parseltongue' Parseltongue in a dream or memory will not be in italics.

::Link Speech:: Note: not L337 speak

After resisting all homicidal urges toward Dumbledore and Molly Weasley had settled him down in the twins' old room, he gratefully collapsed into Morpheus' arms, hopeful for more clues.

Not half an hour later he jerked up and rushed out to the bathroom, the contents of his stomach splattering in the porcelain bowl as it was violently expelled from his body. His body rejecting food like he wanted to reject what the bastard of a Dark Lord had done to him and Tom. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be that easy and he knew it. Salazar, he missed Tom. Reaffirming his oath to do anything to destroy the Dark Lord and regain his brother, Harry stood, washed his mouth out and made his way back to bed.

It felt as if he had just lay down when he was up again, dry heaving and trying not to choke. Apparently, he wasn't going to get any sleep. Brooding over the Dark Lord situation or Dumbledore's manipulations would do nothing but frustrate him. Tom was still hidden behind a wall, which was making him jumpy, so when he felt slightly more stable he returned to the twins' old room and read through his old schoolbooks till he heard Mrs. Weasley making breakfast.

It was almost twenty minutes later that Hermione, Ron, and Ginny came down the stairs to find Harry and Fleur chatting amicably about custom spells with Molly eying Harry speculatively. The three teens were just as surprised as the Weasley matriarch with their friend.

"Harry?" Ron managed to choke out, drawing everyone's attention.

"Yes, Ron?" Somehow Harry remained calm, though he was mentally cursing his carelessness. He hadn't meant to give away anything, but when Fleur had mentioned the differences between Latin and French spells, Harry had remembered a certain book he had read forty years ago on the different spell languages and had asked a question he had always wondered about French spells. This is ended up leading them to the conversation that shocked all who thought he knew hardly anything about topics other than DADA and Quidditch.

"What - " Ron started to ask, but Hermione cut in.

"When have you read The Languages of Spells?" Still remaining calm on the outside, Harry smiled at her disbelief.

"Before the Second Task I happened upon it and it seemed like a really good read," Harry lied smoothly. 'Harry James Potter' had no other interests besides DADA and Quidditch. Even his love interest was connected to them as was his goal in life: to defeat the Dark Lord. Hermione pursed her lips, undoubtedly resisting the urge to chew him out again for not solving the egg earlier and then getting distracted. Not wanting to answer any more questions, Harry swiftly changed the subject.

#shift#

An hour and a feast of food later, Harry had found out why Fleur was there and told those who hadn't known who Slughorn was, conveniently leaving out what subject he'd be teaching, couldn't give away too much information. After the three youngest finished eating, they dragged Harry outside with shouted warnings from Mrs. Weasley and throaty chuckles from Fleur about children being children.

Listening to their chatter about what was going on was soothingly familiar, if a bit worrying. He worried about Tonks, but he didn't think it was for the reason that the other three thought it was, especially with what Mrs. Weasley said to her last night. Maybe it had something to do with Remus? He'd have to do a bit more digging to find out.

'Wait, why should I care? They have been part of the plot against Tom and me. Then again I don't know if they knew what they were doing or not or even who I was - really am.' Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder, shaking him lightly, and a loud voice in his ear he vaguely recognized as Ron, but he was startled enough to lash out without thought.

"Harry! What are you doing?!" Hermione screeched, forcing him to focus on what was happening around him. Ron was on the ground 10 feet away, trying to get air back into his lungs after being thrown for trying to disturb Harry.

"I - Are you alright?" Rushing over, he plopped down right next to the gasping redhead, who nodded shakily. He sat up with both Hermione and Harry's assistance, but winced when one's grip became a little too hard.

"H-Harry, what - ?" Ron managed to wheeze, glancing up into distant green eyes. A moment passed as a flicker of something like annoyance flitted through Harry's expression before he snapped out of it.

"Sorry, Ron. I just remembered something upsetting." Carefully propping his once best friend against the bushy-haired girl they had befriended so long ago, Harry stood, countenance extremely guarded. "Excuse me," he murmured before setting off at a brisk pace toward a small copse of trees in the distance. None of the other teenagers had anything to say, besides to check on Ron, who after he got his wind back acted like nothing odd had happened.

#shift#

Frustration like nothing before raged through his body, making wisps of uncontrolled magic dance around him sporadically. Had he stayed near the others, even though they didn't have the Sight, one of them would have figured out what was going on - at least partially - and the one who was most likely to do that would tell on him in a heartbeat if she thought it was for his own good. Needing a lot of empty space to vent safely, he continued past the clump of trees. He was ever so grateful that the Weasleys lived so far away from anyone.

Now, as long as none of the redheaded clan used brooms to chase after him or something, he would be able to vent the emotions forced upon him by someone else. No one was likely to notice the damage done to some quaint scenery in the middle of nowhere.

First things first - he started screaming.

#shift#

"Oh, there you are, Harry! We were so worried. Where have you been? No one could tell where you'd gone," Mrs. Weasley's tirade continued in its half-worried, half-scolding tone, but Harry knew his limits and he wasn't about to let himself collapse in front of them. They were already worried enough. Taking a seat at the dinner table, Harry did his best to quell Molly's over-exaggerated worry. It had only been a few hours, for crying out loud!

"Sorry," he somehow managed to whisper. "I needed some alone time, just for a little bit." This, sadly, just made her even more worried. Immediately, she gave him a glass of water and a potion for his throat, continuing to mother him nearly to death. "I'm fine! I'm fine! I just need a little rest for my throat. No, I did not get into a fight or experience anything suspicious. There are no Death Eaters near here." There was a knock at the door. Speak of the devil…

"Who is it?" Arthur stood and tiptoed over to the door as all the rest of the family trained their wands on the closed door.

"It is I, Arthur. I trust Dumbledore told you I was coming?" The unmistakable drawl of Snape easily permeated the room, making most of the younger Weasleys shudder. Too many bad memories of that same man looming over them and being absolutely cruel to their rather poor attempts at potions allowing them to easily picture him trying to intimidate the door into opening for him without the password.

"Is there anyone with you?" The tension in the room increased exponentially. Why did he ask that? Everyone was supposed to have a security question, but that didn't sound very secure at all.

"Yes, only a couple dozen invisible gnomes and pixies ready to chew on your ears - of course, there's no one with me. Are you daft?" Everyone was still waiting and debating quietly whether the Weasley patriarch had gone mad or if he was attaining a Dumbledore-esque cleverness.

"Only as much as the white crup is when it finds a stray kneazle," Arthur declared proudly and let the dour Potions Master in without another word. Everyone already in the room but Molly just stared at the two oddly. What was going on?

"I swear he has something illegal in those lemon drops of his," Snape muttered so low that only Arthur and Harry could just barely pick it up, not that the sallow man had meant for Harry to, of course. If Harry had thought his expression had been dour when he entered, it neared absolutely black when he noticed Harry sitting at the end of the table. "Is there something wrong, Potter, or do you have a sudden fascination with me?" He narrowed his eyes challengingly.

"Only if you've finally realized I am not my father nor even my mother and I only treat people how they treat me," he bit out, standing and shifting to a defiant stance. Vaguely, he noticed that his speech was almost hissed out, though he knew it wasn't quite Parseltongue and his eyes were tingling uncomfortably. The expression on Snape's face was worth it, though, he had to admit. It was as if Voldemort had just stepped into the room.

Shifting his line of sight just slightly, he was able to see his reflection in one of the small mirrors hung in various places around the Burrow and then knew why the Great Bat was freaked. One of his eyes had gone crimson while the other stayed resolutely viridian. Closing the odd eye, he was very thankful that Arthur was unable to see the change because of the angle he was at.

"Mrs. Weasley, I think I need to head for bed now," he made his way swiftly out of the room and up the stairs. Salazar, he was glad he wasn't sharing Ron's room this time around. That's all he needed - for his once best mate to freak because some of his twin's darkness had leaked over their link and was pooling in his eye. It gave him a bit of an advantage like better night vision and he could detect magic easier, but the changed color of his lauded eyes was going to get him in deep shit.

Snape would undoubtedly run straight to Dumbledore with this new development. Cursing silently, Harry kicked over one of the boxes littering the room. As a result, a strangely shaped piece of cloth plopped out onto the floor. He cautiously leaned over to pick it up - just as the door flew open, smacking him in the arse and sending him tumbling over the bed.

"Potter, could you be anymore of a fool?!" Snape growled, slamming the door and erecting silencing and privacy wards. "Don't try to intimidate me by drawing on the Dark Lord's power. It will not work and you have just earned yourself seven weeks of detentions to try and purge that very power from your eye!" Dragging himself up onto the bed, Harry glared at the furious professor. As if he had consciously decided to draw in the darkness of his arch nemesis! He wanted to argue, but knew it would be completely futile, so he settled on nodding stiffly.

"What do you propose I should do in the mean time to prevent the mass panic if this were to be discovered?" Giving him an odd look, Snape scooped up the odd cloth that had set him up for his tumble.

"You will use this," he declared shortly, before slipping his wand out from somewhere in his volumous robes and transfiguring it into an eye patch. Tossing it effectively, the Potions Master delivered it close enough for Harry to snatch it out of the air. The older man quirked his eyebrow at the display of excellent seeker talent, but the teen just affixed it over the eye that had been affected - his left.

"And the reason why I look like I'm training to become the next Mad-Eye Moody?" Leaning back against the pillows of his lovely borrowed bed, Harry stared very calmly at his professor. Thankfully, he had taken out all his frustration and aggression, so he was feeling a bit exhausted and bored with the older man's theatrics.

"Can't you think of something for yourself?" Snape sneered, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking down his rather large nose at Harry.

"I'm sure I could come up with something suitable, but I was asking you because when you inform Dumbledore, I want to be telling the same story he is." Harry's calm explanation led to the darkening of the Potions Master's expression. It was almost as if he were going to argue for a few minutes, then it cleared and his posture loosened just a fraction.

"Tell all who ask that it's training. The Dark Lord won't stop if you somehow lose a limb or the use of one of your senses. You will also be training with various teachers this year if they can spare the time." Nodding, Harry observed the other before noticing exactly what he said after the explanation.

"Training like Occlumency?" Snape scowled at the suggestion, giving the immediate inclination that, no, he would not be learning Occlumency from him ever again if he had anything to say about it, thankyouverymuch, but then the man actually nodded - grudgingly, but he did none-the-less. "Wonderful," Harry muttered to himself, though he knew his professor heard him quite well and was taking that the wrong way. "Even though you won't believe me, I really am sorry about looking into your Pensieve without permission. I'm sure others fear for my safety every day not necessarily because of the Dark Lord, but because of my curiosity."

"Do you think for one second that I'll forgive you because of such a pathetic apology? Do you think I don't know you probably went and told every single one of your little Gryffindor frien - " he sneered, but there was no way Harry was going to sit and let the older man take out frustrations on him for something he had never even considered doing. Not anymore.

"I haven't told a single person! I'm seriously starting to hate that man for making my life so difficult with his grudges and cruelty! Don't judge me by the fact that I'm blood-related to a man I never knew," Harry snarled, clenching the bedspread so tightly it was almost ripping. This seemed to shock the Potions Bat more than anything else, even the apology. "Just because I'm suspended on a pedestal I don't belong anywhere near doesn't mean I'm arrogant; it means you are assuming that just because he was legally my father that I will be just like him. I hadn't had any ill will towards you until you started singling me out for things I had nothing to do with. Now I'm pissed that you can force the weight of a father's sins on his son before you'd even met him!" Seemingly shocked to his core, Snape slumped back against the closed door. "I'm not sure which is worse. The fact that they really did die and leave me with my Muggle relatives or the fact that said Muggle relatives raised me to believe that my father was an unemployed drunk and neither of them could care less if I went to an orphanage or if I was left for dead in a ditch." The strain was quickly becoming too much for him, so he slumped down again, but he was incredibly relieved that he had finally gotten that off his chest after all this time.

"It seems you are not as much like your father as I had assumed. I hope to see more independent behavior from you in the future." There Snape went, half-apologizing and then carrying on in an almost insulting way.

"Could you fix something for me, sir?" Harry called out as his professor turned to leave. Stalking over to the bedside, Snape looked at the teen in a new light. Was it really true that the boy detested his father for leaving him with such burdens? It sounded disturbingly familiar to his own life, though he'd had the misfortune of having to deal with his father before the man's death.

"What is it?" Harry pointed to his new accessory.

"Would you please spell this so that it does not hinder my eyesight and protect it from being removed except by my own hand?" These were reasonable requests and it didn't take hardly any time to complete. "Thank you, sir, and congratulations on becoming the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Have a pleasant evening." It wasn't so bad now that those worries and obstacles had been taken care of and making Snape give him another strange look was always entertaining. Nodding just slightly, the older man acknowledged and showed his appreciation.

"Sleep well," Snape drawled as he left, appearing to be faintly confused and definitely intrigued. Chuckling softly, Harry turned onto his left side, hoping and praying that he'd have a mostly dreamless sleep this time. He was so tired since he hadn't gotten hardly any sleep the night before. Drifting off almost immediately, he hoped that no one would disturb him either. Bloody annoyingly concerned people that just made things worse...

He was asleep before he had finished the thought.

AN: Also, people have been pestering me about if I've abandoned this. Abandon my baby? No way! I've spent this last summer procrastinating and chasing plotbunnies, which has lead to an interesting twist I will eventually write, but not in this fic.

Also, while there are many different types of binaries (mathematical, chemical, etc) the ones I'm referring to in this fic are those that are astronomical – stars, people!