Snape curled his lip up. He knew the boy was lying, but he couldn’t prove it. He was feeling physically ill this day. This final day of freedom. If he had ten pence for every time his mind had dwelt on his impending doom he would be a very rich man. Dumbledore seemed determined to go through with it, even though Severus had hinted more than once that he had thought of other, more practical plans. As the middle of the week came and went Severus became more frantic, and less sure that he was doing the right thing. He tried Potion after Potion to try and determine if Dumbledore was under some kind of bewitchment, but to no avail, the Headmaster was as aware of his faculties as ever, and the older man was also telling the truth. He believed this was their only option. Still, Severus thought it was bordering on the absurd.
He shoved his fork into the steak and kidney pie on his plate, but he didn’t feel like eating. He looked over at Miss Chang instead, and tried to conclude if she was as worried about Harry as he sensed she was. His legilimency wasn’t working as well as he wanted it to in his heightened state, however and so he merely resigned himself to having to watch over everyone Harry had been in contact with during the week to see if they acted any differently. They didn’t appear to. He, himself, had not said a word to any of the staff, as Dumbledore had ordered. He had wanted to at least hint to Minerva that he might not be as thoughtful and literate during their weekly Magi-Scrabble games but that she shouldn’t let it concern her. He hoped she’d just be pleased that for once she was winning.
Afternoon classes came and went in the blink of an eye. He had only had the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuff third years and they were easily intimidated by his teaching methods. They were silent all class and this allowed him to finalise the detailed lesson plans he was going to leave for the brat. He hoped he had written enough information, just for the sake of his reputation, but he had no doubt the idiot would screw it up somehow.
Severus said the password to the entrance of Dumbledore’s office reluctantly. The idiot child was already there, looking as happy as he felt but then again the horrible creature only smiled in the most infantile of circumstances. Dumbledore was at his desk watching them both carefully so Severus turned to the older man and paid him due respect with a small nod.
“Thankyou Severus, now that you are both here we can proceed,” Dumbledore said in quietly husky tones. He walked into the centre of his office just in front of Severus and waved his hand. The desk, his various astronomical devices and chairs all floated up into the air. “Easier than placing them somewhere else in the short time we need them gone, you understand,” Dumbledore explained. He started to place small crystals in a circle around both Severus and Harry. The crystals were approximately an inch in diameter and three inches long, each one a different colour. He placed them on their sides, points facing inwards. Snape looked at them carefully, trying to remember where he had read about such quartz.
As he placed the crystals, Dumbledore chanted in an almost whisper. Severus wasn’t sure what Dumbledore was saying but he was sure it wasn’t a spell from any of the Wizarding books he had encountered. It sounded almost like Aramaic or another arcane language. It wasn’t derived from Latin, of that he was assured. He stood up eventually but kept chanting, his voice slightly louder than before. Severus was amazed to see his eyes had gone bright purple. He motioned for Severus and Harry to face each other and both males did so, looking at each other somewhat warily.
As Severus looked into Harry’s eyes, the boy’s irises started to glow purple, and Severus assumed by Harry’s worried expression that his were doing the same. A soft buzzing started to fill the room, growing louder and louder in a steady crescendo. A slight breeze wafted in, billowing his robes, slowly but surely becoming a furious gale that whipped his hair across his face. Still his eyes never left Harry’s until the moment a flash of light appeared before them and he felt himself being hurtled backwards. His back hit into the wall with full force, causing every muscle and bone to ache unbearably, and suddenly everything was black.
**********************
As he opened his eyes, Severus felt confused. For a moment he couldn’t remember what was going on, all he knew was that his whole body was in severe pain. Everything was blurry and he couldn’t understand why. He placed his hand on the floor to hoist himself up and his fingers came into contact with a cold metallic object. Instinctively he picked the article up and he could feel it was a pair of glasses. He didn’t know why he did it, but he put them on, and instantly everything came into focus. He could see himself slumped on the opposite wall. He panicked and stood up quickly, confused and distraught, and then realised what was happening.
His body started to move, or rather, Harry started to move, and Severus walked over to help him up. It was considerably harder than he thought it would be and he stared at his weakened arms in a state of shock. Dumbledore spoke then, surveying them both.
“This is not the end of the ritual, you must understand, that was only the beginning,” he said. “Come here!”
Both of them obeyed the Headmaster and stepped forward tentatively. Severus mused that it felt strange walking with shorter legs. Every fibre of his body was still throbbing. Not his body, Harry’s body, he had to remember that. He watched as Dumbledore took his hand, the hand that no longer belonged to him and positively cringed as he drew a blade across it, drawing a thing line of blood.
“What are you doing?” he asked, mentally balking at his voice which was now unnaturally high and immature. He felt like he was going to vomit on Dumbledore’s shoes.
“I am performing the next act in the ritual, Harry. Hand please,” Dumbledore said, taking Severus’s hand and drawing the knife across it.
“Don’t call me Harry!” Severus practically squealed, brushing his other hand through black untidy hair. He kept doing things he didn’t mean to.
“I have to, you know that. I cannot make the mistake of calling you by your real name in a public place. From now on you are Harry James Potter,” Dumbledore replied quietly.
“And I am Severus what-was-it?-oh-yeah Apollo Snape” the contemptuous boy said in deep silky tones. It was horrible listening to his voice come from another, even worse that he was ridiculing himself.
“And what is wrong with the name Apollo?” Severus asked as Dumbledore placed his hand against his real hand. He felt a sharp tingle as the blood from both bodies merged.
“Nothing. Just not what I expected, that’s all. One of the many strange facts the Accluma gave me insight into,” Harry replied.
“I’d watch the way you behave if I were you Potter,” Severus spat.
“Snape. You mean Snape,” Dumbledore interjected.
“Professor Snape,” Harry said with a small smirk. Severus felt absolute rage building up inside and couldn’t contain himself. He snapped. His smaller frame started beating into the person who stood before him, the body which looked like him but contained the thoroughly odious young man who seemed determined to piss him off.
“Please, Harry, stop,” Dumbledore said, pulling him away, “remember, your Occlumency needs your full containment of emotions and a good deal of control.”
“Sorry, Headmaster. It must be the hormones rushing through the boy’s body,” Severus said quietly yielding to the other man’s wishes. Dumbledore waved his hand and all the furniture came back into place.
“Sit down, both of you. There are a few things you need to learn.”