See the end of the chapter for my notes. We're nearing the end, folks!

The moment he breached Harry's mind with his own, Severus was hit with the sense of jumping into a pool of ice water, rather than the cool mist he usually felt. He opened his eyes and his stomach lurched. He was in Godric's Hollow, looking at the smouldering wreckage that had once belonged to the Potter's. A chill ran through him, just as it had that same night now so many years ago. He recognized this exact scene: it was only moments after Voldemort fled, and he knew what he would find inside, yet again.

The memory before him flickered, and he took that moment to muster up the courage to enter what was left of the house before it disappeared. But when he walked through the front entry-way, the scene before him changed. He was looking into a house that was almost impeccably neat, an ugly floral wallpaper adorning the walls. A loud thud sounded close by and he walked past a set of stairs towards the noise. He heard it again, and it was coming from the cupboard under the stairs. This couldn't be where...where Harry had lived all those years, had it?

He stooped down and opened the tiny door. Despite the light in the hallway, the space inside the cupboard was pitch black. He tried finding a light, but to no avail. He waved his hand into the darkness before him, and it felt cold. He gritted his teeth and hobbled into the cramped space, but suddenly there was no ground beneath his feet and he hurdled forward, landing in what appeared to be a forest clearing at night. Yet that wasn't all...something bright white was gleaming on the forest floor. It was a unicorn, and it was dead.

Something was slithering out of the darkness towards him, and without thinking, he backed up into a giant tree, nearly tripping on its roots. A black cloaked figure was crawling towards the unicorn, before stopping at its side and lowering its head to the wound in the unicorn's side. Severus tried to look away, but the sight before him was too horrific, too grotesque...and then a blood curdling scream rippled through the air. The hooded figure looked up, directly at Severus, pearlescent blood dripping off of its chin. It started to move towards him, and suddenly there were more. Cloaked figures were coming in from every direction, completely surrounding him. He stepped back further into the tree, only to find that it had disappeared and a lake had appeared in its place. Feet submerged in the water, he saw his breath condense in the air in front of him. A creaking-cracking noise echoed through the clearing as the water began to freeze over at an alarming rate. Dementors.

He closed his eyes, willing himself to remember that this was not real. It was difficult to believe as he felt despair wash over himself, and the cold seemed to penetrate into his very soul.

Severus mustered up all of his energy, all of his focus into one thing: expecto patronum, expecto patronum, EXPECTO PATRONUM-

A bright light appeared behind his eyelids, but when he opened his eyes, he saw a stag, not a doe. The creature was charging towards the dementors, and one by one, they dissolved into the darkness of the sky.

The stag looked over at him, but then started to canter off into the forest.

"Wait!" Severus stumbled out of the water and began to run after the patronus. He weaved through the tree's, trying to keep up with the light shining ahead. The trees grew thinner and their numbers lessened as he continued to run...

He reached the edge of the forest, out of breath, and he bent over, coughing and wheezing for air. He could no longer see the stag, no matter which direction he looked. Instead he felt his eyes drawn to some sort of stone monument that was jutting out from the smooth landscape in front of him.

He approached it, slowly, his instincts giving him conflicting feelings, but as he drew closer he could hear heavy breathing and the unmistakable bubbling noise that could only come from a cauldron full of a thick brew. He edged his way around the stone and his heart lurched: Harry.

He surged forward, the name on his lips, but the boy, and he was much younger in this memory, had no awareness of Severus' presence. Instead, he continued to struggle against the gravestone to which he was bound. A short distance away, a faceless body lay dead on the ground, but what was even more disturbing was the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the cauldron.

Severus staggered backwards watching the terrible scene unfold before him. He stood, helpless, as the newly risen Voldemort tortured Harry right before him.

What felt like hours had passed and Severus could take no more. He would rather face the dementors in the forest than to have to watch this...

When had he fallen to his knees? He tried to stand up and found he couldn't move. He shouted into the night sky, willing himself to move, wishing the scene before him would just stop, wishing...

The damp grass under his knees was suddenly hard and cold, and the sounds of the tortured boy's screams left the air. He looked up.

Instead of the headstone, an archway stood in its place. It looked positively ancient, but that wasn't all. A thin veil hung between the crumbling stone columns, and it was fluttering gently, as though somebody had just passed through it.

Despite the serenity of the scene before him, the adrenaline in Severus' body was coursing through his veins and he knew whatever was beyond this veil, he didn't want to know. He wanted to get as far away from that place as he could, crawling backwards, his limbs not working properly. A stone beneath his hands gave way and he heard a splash as it hit a body of water a few seconds later.

Severus finally stood up, chastising his shaking knees and turned around. Where on earth was he? A strange, green glow was the only light he could see, coming from somewhere in the distance. He edged closer to the water, glancing into its black depths. Another stone, small this time, tumbled into the water, but Severus noticed something very strange when the stone hit its surface: the black water gave only the fleeting impression of ripples, before it was stilled, much too quickly to be natural. And not only that, but Severus thought he saw something in the water that should certainly not have been there...

He crouched down, eyeing the water closer. It couldn't have been...

He felt for a stone next to him and tossed it into the water. Only a second later, after the ripples had stilled, something pale floated upwards towards the surface: it was a human body. And not just any body...it was Dumbledore's.

Severus gave a startled shout and fell backwards once again. The horror he felt, only moments earlier, was about to be tested, for Dumbledore's body began to rise out of the black water, along with tens, if not hundreds of other bodies, slowly ascending from the murky depths.

He raced to his feet, refusing to look at any of the other bodies, not wanting to see another familiar face...

He ran, back toward the ancient archway, hoping against hope that the creatures weren't following him, even though he knew they would. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw that he was quickly being overtaken, and were it not enough, he had already reached his destination. He held onto one of the columns, seeing that he was now completely surrounded. The creatures pressed in, all fighting to get to him first, but it was Dumbledore's that reached him before the others. And instead of pulling him back towards the dead waters, the creature gave him a tremendous shove.

For a horrible moment, that seemed to stretch on in slow-motion, Severus fell backwards, just as the rest of the creatures had reached the archway and were each attempting to grab a part of him. He was falling through the veil, and soon it would be over...

Except that it wasn't. Severus had landed softly on the ground, and he was looking up into the night sky once again. He flared his nostrils as the acrid smell of something burning filled his senses. He dashed to his feet, looking this way and that for the creatures that had been there only a moment before...but he was no longer standing by an archway. No, he was looking at the cindered remains of what had been a doorway, beyond which lay a yard and a cobblestoned street.

He slowly turned around, and flinched when he saw a body laying on the ground, a body he also recognized. James Potter lay dead before him, his eyes open and lifeless. Thump.

Severus gave a start, and looked towards the staircase. He knew he had to press on, he knew he had to try...

He walked slowly up the stairs, reaching the top and looking to the left. A horrible sense of déjà vu overtook him as he tread down the narrow hallway to an opened doorway at the end. Thump.

He swallowed heavily, and could feel the sting of tears that had already marked a pathway down his face as he rounded the corner.

There she was, again. His beautiful Lily...dead. A sob escaped him, and he almost fell to his knees just as he had that same night, but something was off. He looked around the room, seeing the crib, but no crying infant within. His heart lurched again. Thump.

And yet...that sound had come from close by.

He took a few more steps into the room and looked around, a strong gust of October wind coming through the crater in the wall, hitting him in the face until he looked away. And there, behind the crib, curled up against the wall...

"Harry."

And it was his Harry. The Harry he knew, the one he had grown to cherish so deeply.

Severus dropped to his knees in front of him, gently placing his hand on Harry's shoulder. The boy's eyes were clenched shut, and his hands were fisted tightly in his hair as though ready to rip it out. Severus said the boy's name again, shaking his shoulder slightly. Harry only curled up into himself even tighter.

Severus had no idea what to do, so instead, he began to speak, "It's me, Harry, it's Severus. You're...you've become trapped here and I've come to take you home, to take you somewhere safe. I need you to open your eyes, Harry. Look at me. I'm here for you, and I won't leave without you." He squeezed the boy's shoulder and then placed his hands over Harry's, waiting.

Slowly, the boy opened his eyes ever so slightly, squinting at the man in front of him, his hands loosening their grip in his hair. Severus held Harry's face, stroking his cheeks with this thumbs, "Look at me, I'm here for you."

Harry did, his green eyes searching Severus' face in anguish. Severus took one of Harry's hands and placed it directly over his heart. "Feel my heart beat. I'm what's real, Harry. What's around us, are all just memories."

The boy opened his mouth and said, so softly that he could barely be heard, "Severus."

He nodded, and he couldn't help but to smile slightly, "Yes. Yes, it's me."

"...you came."

"Yes, and I'm here to save you, Harry," Severus could hear his voice wavering, but he pressed on, "Can you feel my heart beating?"

Harry nodded, his eyes still searching Severus' face.

" Focus on my eyes, the feeling of my heartbeat and your breathing; can you do that for me?"

The boy swallowed and nodded again. Severus held his hand over Harry's and waited for his breathing to slow and even out.

"When you're ready, I need you to stand up. We're going to leave this place, together."

He tightened his grip on Harry's hand and helped him up after the boy nodded again. Harry swayed for a moment, but Severus steadied him. He swallowed thickly; this would be the most difficult part, "Harry, we need to walk out of this house, but it means that you will have to see..."

Harry looked at him, his eyes more focused and resolute, "I trust you."

Severus felt his pulse quicken when he heard those words...words he should not deserve coming from Harry. Yet it was clearer now than it had ever been before: he wanted to earn those words and truly believe them for himself; He wanted Harry to know that, without a doubt, Severus would always be there for him.

He closed his eyes. A mass of feelings were crowding his mind, but one stood out from the rest: strength.

Without even casting the spell in his mind, he saw a familiar bright light growing behind his eyelids. He opened his eyes and saw his silver doe standing serenely in front of them, and he knew everything would be all right.

Severus held Harry's hand in his own, following his doe slowly from the room. The light emanating off of his patronus seemed to blur everything around them into indistinguishable shapes, and lit a warm path for them to follow. Severus didn't even notice when they walked down the set of stairs before he realized they were standing in front of the doorway.

He squeezed Harry's hand, and together they walked through the doorway into the warm light that awaited them.

This chapter was very interesting to write. I sort of wrote it to the flow of my thoughts, which worked quite well in creating this strange dream-scape. I had originally intended to include traumatic memories from each of Harry's years, and I even had plans to write a strange scene where Severus watches his own "death" from Harry's point of view. I wanted to mix the memories with the notion of deams- you know how you suddenly find yourself somewhere in your dreams, and it makes no sense, but you go with it without really questioning it? Because of this, the memories are slightly altered. If you're a crazy know-it-all HP fan, you might notice two or three places where I used half a sentence directly from the books hehe

It made my heart ache to write the last part of this chapter. I just can't handle the sweetness of it! But I think it was due. xD