Chapter 10

Harry found himself standing in the middle of empty space, surrounded by black nothingness. �Is this death? Am I dead?� he thought to himself.

�No, you�re not dead,� a voice sounding very much like his own rasped, the sound echoing around him.

�Who�s there?� Harry called into the darkness, fumbling for his wand only to realize, to his horror, that he didn�t have it.

The voice laughed, although it came out as more of a hissing sound. �Why, I am, of course,� the voice replied. Harry�s eyes narrowed.

�That�s not what I meant! Who are you?� Harry clarified.

�Who am I? Why, I am me and you are me and I am you and you are you!� the voice hissed out amusedly.

Harry was growing impatient, not to mention that the strange hissing was starting to seriously grate on his nerves. �Don�t play games! What is your name?� Harry shouted into the darkness.

The voice laughed again, the hissing causing Harry�s skin to crawl. �A name? I don�t have one of those,� it replied, then after a brief pause added,� but I guess I could be called Tom�or Harry.� It laughed again.

Harry�s frustration was building. He wasn�t getting anywhere with his current line of questioning. Perhaps a change of tactics was in order. �Okay, then what are you, Tom?�

There was a pause as Harry waited for �Tom� to answer. Finally, the voice spoke once more. �I told you. I am me and I am you and you are me and you are you. We are all the same,� it replied.

�What do you mean, we�re the same?� Harry called into the darkness. Tom didn�t answer. �Hello?� Harry cried out. �Are you there?!� There was no answer, and Harry was left alone in silence.

Severus laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling while he thought about everything that had happened since he had given Harry Potter his last detention almost a week ago. How could so much have happened in so little time? How could so much have changed? He curled up onto his side. What was happening to him? Why were these feelings suddenly coming out of the woodwork? Why now, of all times? Most importantly, what would he do about Harry? He knew that once �The Boy Who Nearly Died� woke up, he�d still be depressed and a danger to himself. Granted, the modified Draught he took would allow him to explore himself at a level deeper than one could usually go, but Severus couldn�t shake the nagging feeling that opening Harry�s subconscious and unconscious up like that would only worsen things. He wasn�t sure why, but he just had a bad feeling�

The voice returned to converse with Harry an indeterminable amount of time later. �Hello, Self,� it said, announcing its return and startling Harry.

�You,� was all Harry said, and the voice laughed. Harry narrowed his eyes and glared at the nothingness surrounding him. �I�m tired of your games, �Tom�. Show yourself!� Harry demanded.

�Very well,� Tom replied, and suddenly a mirror materialized in front of Harry. Harry warily approached the object and looked into its pristine surface.

What he saw could only be described as his reflection, but not. It was reversed, as though Harry was actually looking at himself rather than his reflection, and the eyes� There was a strange gleam to them, making the irises look as though they were made of snake scales. Harry swallowed hard and noticed the smug look on his reflections face, as if to say, �Satisfied?�

Harry reached forward to touch the glass surface. The moment he did, the world of nothingness around him shifted, and he found himself and the mirror surrounded by a thick fog.

�What is this?� he asked his mirror self.

Tom stepped out of the mirror with a small sigh before moving to stand beside Harry.

�This,� he replied, �is our playground.� And with that cryptic remark, he took Harry�s hand and led him into the swirling mists.

Severus found his feet leading him to the headmaster�s office. Really, how could he have forgotten such an important side effect as opening one�s subconscious up to themselves?! He blamed it on Pomfrey and her yelling for distracting him. Damn that woman and her incessant nagging�

�Snickerdoodles,� he muttered, and the stone gargoyle blocking the staircase to the office slid aside.

�Severus! To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?� Dumbledore greeted him cheerfully. Severus sighed.

�Sir, there is something you should know about the modified Draught that Mr. Potter took��

Harry felt a chill go up his spine as he and Tom walked through the mist. He was having trouble thinking clearly, as if something was clouding his mind.

�Well, Self, what are you thinking?� Tom said as they walked alongside one another through the fog.

�Why do you keep calling me that?� Harry asked, stopping short. Tom stopped as well and turned to face him.

�Why do I keep calling you what?� he asked.

�Why do you keep calling me �self�? My name is �Harry�, not �self�,� Harry replied. His thinking was really starting to become a little fuzzy, and he had to shake his head to clear it.

Tom looked at Harry strangely. �I thought I already explained this��

�Yeah, yeah, �I am me and you are me� and all that rubbish. I still don�t know what you mean by any of that!� Harry interjected. His companion sighed.

�There is so much that you don�t understand, Self. You see, I really am you�well, a part of you, anyway,� Tom explained. Harry stared at him in confusion.

�Part of me? What do you mean, you are part of me?� Harry questioned.

Tom sighed again. �It�s hard to explain, Self. You see, I am what you draw your power from.�

�My power?� Harry repeated, and Tom nodded, smiling slightly.

�Yes, Self. Your power.�

Harry stared at Tom for a moment longer. �What do you mean, my power?�

Tom rolled his eyes and sighed impatiently. �You know, for someone so powerful, you sure are dense,� he replied, then quietly laughed, this hissing carrying through the dense fog. �I am where your magic comes from, as well as your ability to talk to snakes. Every time you cast a spell or speak in Parseltongue, you draw upon me.�

�Wait a minute,� Harry held up a hand, desperately trying to wrap his mind around this new information but having increasing difficulty as he was finding it harder and harder to focus. �I thought that my Parseltongue came from Voldemort.�

Tom smirked at that. �It doesn�t matter where it came from. It�s part of you now, and therefore it is part of me.� He paused for a moment, then continued. �I guess you could say that Voldemort is just as much a part of you as Harry is, Self.�

Harry wallowed hard and shook his head. �No. That�s not possible. I am Harry. I�m nothing like that monster��

�Monster?� Tom laughed. The hissing sound was really unnerving. �Voldemort wasn�t a monster. He was just foolish.�

�You�re wrong. He was a monster,� Harry insisted, but Tom simply shook his head.

�No, Self. Voldemort was not a monster. He was a blind fool who was too weak to control his power properly. That is why he failed and you were able to defeat him.� Tom took a step toward Harry. �You see, Self, you, unlike him, are strong enough to control that kind of power�and more.� Here, Tom leaned forward and hissed directly into Harry�s ear, �You can and will succeed where he failed.�

Harry stumbled away from Tom, eyes wide. �What the hell makes you think I want to succeed where he failed?!� he spat. �Why would I want to turn into��

�Because, Self, I am you and you are me. And I know your secret desires. All of them. You will succeed where Voldemort failed.� Tom smirked. �Who knows? Maybe you�ll be able to gain the loyalty of that man you fancy so much�you know, the one who turned against Voldemort? You�d like that, wouldn�t you?�

�Snape?!� Harry spluttered. �What are you��

�I told you, I know ALL of your secret desires, Self,� tom replied very seriously. �I am you; don�t forget that.� And with that, Tom vanished into the mists.

And in the Infirmary, a still unconscious Harry quietly murmured, �You are me.�