Purebloods and Peppermints

An Empty Question

~Sophia's POV~

It was two days after Arthur's attack before I heard from George. I was practically pacing a hole in the silver and green threaded carpet in my dorm room when a silver magpie flew into the room. It's light illuminated the space it consumed, and then it perched itself on the corner of my bookshelf. I immediately recognized it as George's patronus. As it opened its beak, George's low voice came out of it. The message was "Dad's okay. Will be back by the end of the week. See you soon, Soph." Then it flew back out of the room to return to the shaggy redhead. 

Once I heard that Arthur was still alive I felt stress physically leave my body as well as my mind. It was a short message but it told me all I wanted to know. Arthur was okay, he had survived. 

The return of the Weasleys was more than jubilant. Luna and Neville had organized a small surprise part in the Gryffindor common room to celebrate the positive outcome of their father. I was standing on a small, wooden chair hanging red and gold streamers when I felt a hand tap the back of my knee. I looked down to see a face that I had been wanting to see for days but could never seem to find, Harry's. 

"Hey, there. I was erm-wondering if maybe you had a second? I wanted to talk to you about something," Harry said. 

"Oh, sure. No problem," I replied while climbing down from the chair. He offered his hand to help which I took. Once I was down off the ground I passed the streamers to Lee Jordan asking if he would finish hanging them for me. Lee was always a good friend to the Weasleys, especially the twins. 

Harry led me out of the common room and to a small secluded staircase a few corridors down. The small space was drafty and cold. There was a window near the bottom of the stairs. I hadn't noticed before, but the sun was starting to peak out from behind the clouds. 

Whatever Harry wanted to talk about, he didn't want anyone overhearing. I knew what I wanted to speak with him about, but I had no idea what he wanted to tell me. He sat down on the stairs first and I sat a few feet away from him. He didn't meet my eyes at first. Almost like he wanted to speak near me, but not at me. He started to nervously push his glasses up even though they weren't falling. 

"Harry, are you okay?" I asked. 

"Do you know about what's going on? I mean with Snape and everything," he said, still looking at the wall in front of him. 

I remembered what George said about Harry leaving with Snape the night of the accident, but I wasn't sure the reasoning behind it. 

"No, I don't," I said while shaking my head. 

Harry then finally looked me in the eyes. Only they weren't his eyes, or his mother's as he was so commonly told. These eyes were full of anxiety, anger, and uncertainty. Harry usually had very light and pure eyes. I haven't seen those lately. 

He rubbed his palms on the front of his jeans before taking in a sharp breath. "You know those nightmares I have every now and then? Sometimes even when I'm awake." I nodded my head yes.

"Well, they aren't nightmares. They're memories or visions. Only they're not my memories." He swallowed nervously before finishing his thought. "They're Voldemort's." 

I was careful about how I reacted. I knew Harry probably felt isolated and alone. I didn't say anything. I just slightly nodded, showing him I was listening to what he was saying. 

"Snape's been training me about occlumency. Since our minds are connected, he can see into my thoughts. He can control what I see and even tear it apart. We-we don't know if he's aware of the connection yet, but once he is, he can do anything to it unless I learn how to stop it," Harry said, almost sounding exhausted by the strain this has put on him.