So,... whats on you mind? 'pun intended' (Albus)

[headauror]

A rush of euphoria enveloped him as he raised his yew wand to point at the white marble tomb glowing in the darkness that surrounded them. The stone split open and with another gesture the shrouds of death whisked aside. It was there, resting in the grasp of the pale thin form he'd so detested in life. He need only reach out to it and take hold. As his hand jerked the wand from Dumbledore's own a shower of sparks fountained from its tip scattering across the still form of its previous owner...

Harry had stood for some moments, lost in the memory, his normally bright eyes dimmed and glossy, a grim frown pressed on his lips as he stared more through the white tomb before him than actually at it. The silent guardian of a secret know only to himself and two other living souls. His trance was broken as the bright red of a robin disturbed the scene before him. Alighting on the white marble the bird trilled a song so much less than that of the phoenix that had once held alegence to the man encased within the tombs now unblemished surface. And yet the song was enough to drag him back to the present. To remind him of the mild rays of sunlight filtering down from above, glinting off the lakes dark surface. It awakened his senses once more to the cold biting chill in the October air that held the promise of a fast approaching winter. The memory was reduced back to a shadow in the tangled chaos that was always lurking at the back of his mind. Even still it had served as a firm reminder of why he still made routine visits to the school as well as stiffening his resolve on what he had decided to teach his son in his first lesson. One he was planning to have with Al as soon as the owl he'd sent off to the castle reached the boy and his note was able to inform him of where and when to meet with his father.

He'd been warring with himself for days now on just whether he should attempt to teach his son Occlumency, the extremely difficult and often painful to learn art of keeping others out of ones own head. That memory though had reminded him of the grim usefulness of the ability. Granted the reasons behind his having had to deal with feeling Voldemort's anger..being drawn to view from within him his hate filled actions.. had been the result of something Albus would thankfully never have to face. But the fact of the matter was there were a fair share of those talented at Legilimancy in their world, and a number of those were not on the right side of things. Beyond that the Imperius curse was used freely by death eaters and learning, or at least gaining a basic grasp on Occlumency would make Al that much more likely to succeed at throwing off such mind controlling spells in the future. His brow pulled together as another consideration added its self to his thoughts. He'd heard about his sons recent break in temper..right.. learning a little control over his own mind and emotions might be the best thing for Albus..

His gaze traveled back up the sloping lawns of the school, taking in the vast size of the castle and flitting over its towers to come to rest on the one he knew to be the owlery. Surely the bird had found Al by now. Glancing at his watch he spared a final look at the marble resting place, giving it a small yet respectful nod before turning to make his way up to the castle. His cloak whipped about his legs in the wind and his hair tugged messily in every possible direction, made all the more a disaster as the gusts encouraged the unruly locks into even greater chaos and disarray than usual. Really it was enough to make him rather glad that this first lesson would have need of being held indoors.

Making his way to the set aside first floor class room he mumbled a password and listened as the door clicked open in response. The need for the extra security was evident in the stone basin covered in runes resting on the desk at the head of the class. He had borrowed Dumbledore's Pensieve, now property of the school its self, from the new head master. Turning to the door he had just entered he pulled it shut and cast a Muffliato charm over it to insure their activities wouldn't draw any undue attention. The note he'd sent Al had been cryptic enough that, feeling secure only his son would understand its meaning he had included the password to the room. That done he proceeded to the front of the room and settling down in the chair behind the desk he placed his wand to his temple. Slowly the shaft of holly came away, a strand of silver something between liquid and gas dangling from its tip. Dropping the thread gently into the Pensieve he lifted his wand and began to repeat the process time and time again. Drawing out those thoughts, memories he worried would be two dangerous or to disturbing to risk having Al stumble upon...

[mgirl03]

It had been a real shock for Al when, as he was sitting in the common room, just taking out a few books to start homework, an owl suddenly rammed into a window near by, causing a few people to shriek and himself to knock over an ink well. After cursing and sucking up the ink with his wand, he had turned to the owl that had been let in, and had settled itself onto the arm of the chair he was sitting in. Frowning, he had taken the note and let the thing be on its way, read what was so urgent, and promptly forgot all about homework.

He had set aside his school work and left the common room immediately, telling anybody who looked sideways at him that he was off to the library--not that many people cared, seeing as they were still ill at him. Albus was a bit too excited to care though, because the owl had been from his father, and in a very discreet manner, he had been told that his first lesson was soon to begin. While the thought of it sent a thrill down Al's spine, because he was ready to learn how to defend himself and others around him, he was also a bit worried. By now, his father would have heard about the little...incident between Soren and himself. Would the lesson start out as a long winded talk about how he needs to control his anger, how his father and mother were disappointed, and other things that would probably just worsen his mood?

It was as he made it the third floor that he ran into somebody he really didn't need to deal with--Peeves. The Poltergeist seemed to be trying to set up a load of water balloons to drop on the next person's head, but at the sight of a Potter wandering the castle alone, a very evil grin took over his face, and in the next moment Al found himself diving across the hallway into an empty classroom to avoid an a good dousing of water. He poked his head out of the door cautiously, peering up at the evil little spirit.

"Why, it's Potter wee Potty! Going to get angry, Potter? Peevsie knows how angry Potter gets, and he wonders whether he can help Potter. Would Potter like to cool off? Al felt that now familiar tight ball of anger pulse in the pit of his stomach, as he shoved the door open all the way and moved from the room, walking past Peeves with his wand clenched tightly. To his irritation, Peeves followed him along the hallway, cackling and blowing raspberries, getting close and then flying away quickly. By the time Al had reached the end of the hall, and the staircase that he needed to go down, and when Peeves showed no sign of going away, he finally pulled out his wand and pointed it towards the fiend threateningly.

"Get out of it, Peeves!" he exclaimed, the anger inside of him growing. Peeves, however, did nothing but laugh again and blow another raspberry. Clenching his teeth so tightly that his jaw flexed, Al turned quickly, making his way to the second floor as quickly as he could, hoping Peeves would just get bored and leave. Peeves, however, didn't seem to want to leave, nor did he want Albus to just be off without getting more of a rise out of him, so in the next moment Al found himself being buried under a suit of armor that the poltergeist knocked over.

"PEEVES!" he yelled loudly, but the spirit was already zooming off in another direction, done with his pranking for now. Cursing under his breath, Al fought his way out of the wreckage, running his fingers through his black hair to try and get it out of his face. He stood painfully and glared at the suit of armor, before trying to fix it up nonverbally. When that failed to work, he gave a furious sigh and began to mutter out the spells needed to clean up, before turning and quickly making his way through the school once more. At one point he began to jog, which meant that he arrived at the room the note had said to go to only a few minutes later; although slightly out of breath.

After giving the password hastily, and shoving his wand into his back pocket, Al let himself into the room. After the door closed behind him, he gazed around the room, and his bright green eyes landed on a person who looked very much like himself, standing by a weird sort of cauldron and...doing something. Albus watched, entranced, as his dad pointed his wand at his head, pulled it away, and a piece of silvery white substance floated down into the basin that had many weird symbols on it.

"Hey, dad," Al said, walking towards where his father was and giving him a curious glance. He smoothed his hands down his white shirt and straightened his tie, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly--willing away the effects of anger that were left over. "I got your owl...Obviously. Er, what's that you're doing?"
His eyes flicked from the basin to his father's eyes, identical to his own, and half smiled, as he moved to perch himself on one of the desks in front of the teacher's desk, pulling out his wand again and setting it beside himself.

[headauror]

Harry smiled and gave a nod as Al came into the room and greeted him. When his son asked after his actions he held up a finger in a gesture asking that Al give him a minute. His attention for the moment was focused on the memory he'd been thinking of, drawing it to the surface to be removed and stored in the pensive. His eyes closed briefly to allow a not so lonely walk through the forest beyond the school grounds to flicker across the insides of his lids.. several others.. there and yet not really, walked silently beside him.. his mothers reassuring gaze.. his fathers features full of pride... Remus and Sirius. And then he'd arrived. The clearing was just beyond the next few trees. On seeing Voldemort his tight grip relaxed, freeing the stone he'd been clutching so tightly.. a life line that made possible those around him, those that helped to fuel his courage to do this..those that had shielded him through the dementors on his way.. dropping the stone to the forest floor.. but it didn't matter.. he'd be seeing them all again in only a few short moments, beyond the veil.. Taking a deep breath to help steady his resolve he stepped forward into the clearing...

Harry's eyes opened and he pulled his wand away from his temple. A long silver strand whisped after it, breaking from his head and curling as it dangled, silver and glowing from tip of the holly shaft. Along with it went any possible images of the forest that had been around him, any clues that might allow someone to piece together what the stone was.. where it might be found. That was it then.. all of the Hallows and a large batch of other memories his son was better off not having the risk of stumbling across. Before dropping the strand into the swirling pool that was neither liquid nor gas, Harry looked up and returned his sons smile. His gaze then dropped back to the thread as it coiled and shifted slowly as if some creature currently lethargic and content.

" This, is a memory.. and what I'm doing with it.. " Harry gave a gentle tap of his wand against the air and the thread broke free, drifting lazily down to settle and blend with the shifting substance in the basin. " ... is storing it, straightening house in my own mind I suppose you could call it, in the event I find myself with a guest coming to call. " His eyes flickered back to Al and rested on him a moment, a reassuring smile pressing his lips. " That guest being you of course. Its not likely to happen..but all the same.. "

Moving around the desk he motioned for Al to fallow him to the other side of the room, and sitting on one of the desks at the back he nodded to the one across from him, indicating Al should do the same. Once his son was settled he began talking again. "I've mentioned before,.. when telling you about my past, that I was taught to block Voldemort from my mind. I don't believe I ever went into detail on the subject since it wasn't necessary to help you understand what I was telling you at the time. .. That's changed though... What I'm talking about is the ability referred to as Occlumanecy. It's a very hard art to learn.. even potentially painful, I won't lie.. most who try never truly master it in fact. But it has very useful benefits. Once learned it can do more than block someone skilled in Ligilemncy.. that's is, the ability to break into the mind of another. The skills needed to study it, even if you never master the ability its self, are the same you'd need to have any hope of throwing off other spells involving the mind,.. such as the imperious curse for example."

Shifting a bit on the desk he was sitting on Harry fiddled with his wand. Holding his index fingers to the ends and running his smooth fingers over the wood of the shaft. His eyes took in his motions.. " The ability to clear yourself of thought.. make your mind a blank slate... the discipline and focus the cast aside your emotions, calm yourself and cease to feel on demand... affection..love.. fear..... .... "anger"... " This last word, spoken with a touch more meaning behind it and a pointed pause combined with the raising of his eyes to lock with his sons, was the only form of lecture he intended to impart on Al regarding the Soren incident. The kid was smart.. quick on the uptake.. he'd get the point.. it wasn't 'ok' .. but Harry understood, would try and help him develop the tools to control a problem he himself had in the past and often still did find himself dealing with. " All emotions such as those weaken your ability to block. They make it easy for others to break through and gain access to your thoughts and feelings. "

Straightening up Harry lifted his wand to point at Al. " I'm going to try and break into your head Al.. mind you this isn't an especially strong area of mine. It's defending I've master.. not breaking through.. a skilled Legilimens would be much worse.. much harder to fend off. But I'm adept enough at it to give you and idea of what to expect. Braces yourself now.."

He gave Al only a few moments to collect himself. It wasn't that he wished any ill on his boy.. far from it. But those who seek to control minds don't offer any form of a reason to prepare yourself before they strike. At least he'd given Al an idea how to attempt to fight back, which was more than he could claim of his own first lesson in the subject. After a moment he sent out the nonverbal spell at the boy and was rewarded rather quickly with several random flashes.. brief glimpses of the family during breaks.. at home.. nothing serious. none of it really even what could be a whole thought really. Until one rather clear memory leapt forward and played itself out in Harry's mind as if on a screen.. Al in costume.. his hair altered to the red of Godric Gryfindor, his vivid Green eyes still staring from above his punch cup.. a cup that was tilting.. spilling all down his front at the sight of a beautiful red head coming towards him.. shock.. followed quickly by feelings of confusion and embarrassment washed over him and then Harry cut the connection, freeing Al's mind.

[mgirl03]

Most Gryffindors found that they owned a high sense of curiousity, usually asking questions about things that didn't concern them and sticking their nose into business where they didn't belong. Al, too, had been granted with this need to know about what was going on around him. However, he had grown up with a father who saved the wizarding world, and at the same time wanted his kids to have a level head, so the Potter children had had to learn very quickly that sometimes you just had to sit there and wait. This was precisely was Al did, staring at his father as he raised his wand to his head. Al watched in fascination as Harry slowly pulled away the wand, taking along a strand of silvery white with it.

As his father began to explain what he was doing, and what those little strands were, Al found himself staring even more intently at the basin, feeling a sense of awe. That was his fathers memories in there? Memories of battles and of Voldemort, of Bellatrix, of Al's own mum and his aunts and uncles? Not to mention all of the other crazy things his father had done? For a moment, Albus marveled in just how amazing magic was, where you could actually take out your own memories and place them into a different container to be viewed at will. And, as his father added, where you could store them away from others.

Without speaking, Al quickly hopped off the desk and moved to where his father had indicated, making sure to grab his wand and bring it along with him. As soon as he was situated, his dad started straight in on two terms that Albus had only ever heard in passing--Occlumency and Legilimency, and of how his father had become somewhat skilled at both. How he, Al, would be best in learning how to control his mind in this certain way so that he could protect himself. He felt a swoop of nervousness take place in his stomach--he was going to be defending his mind against the wizarding world savior? And how had his father even thought that his son might possibly break through to Harry's memories? The nervous feeling bloomed in Al's stomach as his father informed him that it was possible he would never master this, never truly learn it, as many didn't. It was rather hard then, wasn't it?

Taking a deep breath, Al gave a quick nod, running his hand through his hair distractedly as his father continued on. With his right hand he twiddled with his wand, although his eyes stayed trained on his father's face, listening with rapt attention. To clear your mind, your feelings, of all emotions...As if this didn't sound hard enough already. And then, of course, it had to become awkward for Al, as the word 'anger' came up. The emphasis behind the word, the pause, and the eye contact were not lost on Al, who shifted uncomfortably and glanced down, his face reddening a bit. A feeling of shame and guilt washed over him, although in the next moment he found himself panicking, trying to get rid of all feelings. He was supposed to clear his mind, right now? Were they already going to start?

Just as Al let his hand drop from his hair, and his eyes raise to meet his father's once more, he felt a great stab of fear as a new thought occured to him. He gripped his wand tightly at the notion that his father would be viewing his own memories--his personal memories, unless he some how stopped him. Al tried to take a few deep breaths, but he had only a moment before his dad's wand gave the tiniest of twitches, and he suddenly found himself zooming away from the classroom to be taken to another place entirely. A family gathering at the Burrow suddenly bloomed in his mind.

Random flashes of family gatherings presented themselves in Al's mind in turn, and all the while his mind was struggling, dimly aware of a pressing feeling on his thoughts, of the distant form of his father. He couldn't see anything other than the memories though, and he was still in no more control than before when suddenly a very clear memory jumped to the forefront of his mind. It was only a moment before Al realized that it was something he had feared would happen--a very personal memory presenting itself to his own father. He desperately tried to clear his mind, but he was panicking too much, and he was too embarrassed. He was forced to watch as himself--dressed as Gryffindor himself--caught sight of Rory and spilled punch all down his front.

Very abruptly, Al's mind was once more his own, and he blinked his eyes open, feeling sweat collected on his body, his face bright red in embarrassment. That had not just happened. He stared at his father in horror for a second, seeing him and yet not seeing him. His wand was limp in his right hand, his palms were completely coated in sweat, and he felt weak and shaky. However, his embarrassment topped all other feelings, and Albus quickly looked down at his lap, refusing to meet his father's eyes. His dad wasn't supposed to see stuff like that! That was personal and embarrassing! Al's scrambled mind couldn't tell if it was the spilled punch or the jumbled emotions that were more horrorifying for his father to see.

"Wow," he said after a moment, his voice shaky. He swallowed hard a few times, his mouth and throat feeilng very dry, his eyes still averted. He was sitting stiffly on the desk, perched on the edge, and he took a moment to adjust himself and regrip his wand--anything to avoid looking at Harry. After an awkward silence, Al risked a glance upward, his face still beat red. "That didn't go well."

Albus couldn't even bring himself to fake a smile, as he sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly through his nose. His feelings were all jumbled--embarrassment and shock, shame at falling for his best friend and risking their friendship, guilt for even looking at her like that, and that anger that was always present, merely because it could be--or maybe because Al wasn't getting his way. He brain was a scrambled mess, and the deep breaths weren't helping. It occured to Al very suddenly that while he might be good at some things, and he might be a quick learner, Occlumency wasn't going to be one of his strong points.

[headauror]

Watching as Al's gaze cleared and a moment later dropped quickly to his lap Harry pushed away the gentle parental humor at having seen his son thrown by the dawning of his feelings for his young friend. A straight line, neither frown nor smile settled on his lips and he waited for Al to collect himself and recover some from the nasty shock of having ones mind invaded. Harry had experienced his own share of embarrassing moments while in school.. and had had much the same reaction he could guess his son was currently experiencing when Snape had nearly viewed the memory of his first kiss with Chu. It was a nerve rattling experience.. having things picked from your mind against your will, and while he'd found some small bit of mirth in the reaction of the boy in Al's memory, he found not one thing funny about the state of the young man sitting across from him now. What he did find himself gaining was another grain to add to the store of respect he'd been gathering for his son. Not as his boy but as a young man being forced early to come into his own. Set any other average sixth year down to endure what Al had just experienced and Harry would not have faulted them an angry outburst at the injustice of it. Would not have been surprised to have been assaulted and accused, and rightly so, with comments on how he had no right, no business viewing those secret parts of their mind. And yet no such reaction came from Albus.

When the boy could finally bring himself to lift his gaze and look Harry in the eye it was evident that he was more than a little embarrassed. It was also easy to tell by the sober expression on his face that he was rather less than pleased. Yet his response to the situation was simply to comment on feeling that this first attempt had gone less that perfect. It was true of course. It had been terribly easy to force his way into his sons head. Much easier than he had hoped it would be and he found himself rather grateful that he'd used no more force than he had when attempting it. It was only a first go though.. there was plenty of time for possible improvement. Al's reaction had been the most heartening.. the kid was holding up his end of this.. accepting the fact that much of the training he'd expressed a desire to learn would be far less than pleasant at times.

Harry cast a small smile of reassurance at his son before giving a brief nod. " Usually doesn't the first time.. I don't expect that you'll be able to block during this lesson, but I do want you to practice clearing your mind when you can.. making an effort to keep it that way for a bit. Try starting with times when your unlikely to be riled. Then see if you can hold the calm you manage in more distressing situations.. mind you I'm not saying to go 'looking' for a situation that will get you worked up.." He eyed Al pointedly before continuing. " I simply mean trying to clear your head and then remain calm through something a bit more stirring than a quite dorm room. " Shifting on the desk he lifted his wand a bit. " Lets have another go then shall we? " Harry waited a moment, giving Al a few moments to focus, gather himself before casting the the silent spell once again. He grinned inwardly, a bit of pride welling as he met with a fair try at resistance and found himself having to press a bit harder to get in this time.

The images flickered past.. like segments on a patched together movie reel, and with them fragments of emotions. Al playing with Rose in the orchard at the burrow, the concern Al had felt as she tripped and scraped her knee.. teaching Rory to ride a broom, the amusement and pride felt at watching the joy on her face.. a torch lit corridor in which a pretty blond was wrapped in Al's arms..pressed back against the stone wall, their faces close, lips pressed in a deep kiss, emotions of passion and desire tainted by a touch of nerves, Harry had been ready to sever the connection, spare his son the laying bare of such personal emotions, till a very familiar shout caught his attention... James, a look of rage on his face at finding Al with Cissa.. the beginnings of a heated argument between the two brothers...

A gleeful cackle broke Harry's concentration a bit as his head jerked slightly to the side..Peeves, if he was near the Pensive!.. but no.. on glancing the poltergeist must have merely flown by the door....

[mgirl03]

Once again, Al realized just why he and his father had such a strong relationship together. His father just seemed to understand him--probably because they were two very similar people, and his father had been through what Al had just gone through. As Albus finally forced himself to look up and meet his father's eyes, he didn't see any form of amusement in them--in fact, his father merely looked calm at first, and then gave Al a very reassuring smile. Immediately, Al felt his shoulders relax, and felt the embarrassment receede a little from his mind, the anger retracting also. His father wasn't laughing at him because of what he had just seen--and honestly, what was so wrong with it? Al was a sixteen year old boy, and sixteen year old boys had feelings for other girls....Nothing abnormal there, right? Even if it was his best friend...

His father's reassurance that it never really did go well the first time, Al felt a little better about his failure at Occlumency. It was just his first true. He gave a small nod to confirm that he would try and work on clearing his mind, when he was angry and when he was just alone. Maybe it would help him when dealing with his new found anger problems. At his dad's clarification that he shouldn't go looking for trouble, just to practice clearing his mind, Al gave a rather sheepish grin and another nod. He never went looking for trouble, and he was pretty sure his dad knew that very well. Trouble just liked to come and find him.

It was a bit of a shock for his dad to be already pointing his wand and saying they should give it another go--his brain was still jumbled and aching. However, Al swallowed hard and gave a determined nod. Slowly, he sucked in a deep breath, letting it out through his nose, closing his eyes briefly. He tried to force away all thoughts, all nervousness of failing, all embarrassment of that last memory. He readjusted his grip on his wand, and he had just cleared a good portion of his mind when suddenly he felt that same intruding feeling as before. For a moment, he held his own against the pressure, fighting against his father's own mind force. Suddenly, though, his dad's mind gave a forceful shove, and Al's own defenses fell away, so that his mind lay bare once more.

He saw in his own mind the things his father were seeing, and at first they were merely harmless ones--him and Rose out at the Burrow, him teaching Rory how to fly a broom for the first time. He continuously tried to battle against his father's mind, but what Al didn't realize was that he was just making it worse. He was thinking about getting his father's mind out of his own, and by thinking, he was just bringing up more memories and more feelings. He wasn't clearing his mind, and because of that, he was suddenly watching himself back Cissa into a wall, snogging her. Immediately, embarrassment swelled in him once more, and the memory became clearer.

The snogging portion was over, and suddenly Al saw his brother James, heard him shouting. He sat there, trapped in his own mind, having to witness a fight between his brother once more--one of the last encounters he had had with the older boy before he had gotten captured. He felt anger swell up inside of him, and more than ever he wanted his father to stop, to get out of his brain, to not see this. His dad didn't need to be witnessing fights between his two sons--Al was determined to handle this problem with James once more. Seeing this memory had helped him to realize why James was distant, but he didn't want his dad to see it to. This was all really, really personal.

Very abuptly, even more sudden than last time when the connection was gone, Al had his mind back to himself; although, his dad's brain was not fully gone from his own mind, but just seemed to be distracted. Al, however, so strung up in his high emotions, was not going to let this oppurtunity pass. Before he could even stop himself, he was raising his wand and pointing it at his father, shouting, "Protego!", which was the first thing that popped into his head. As he did so, he merely thought that the connection would break all the way, and he would be free to his own mind--but he was wrong.

Al was now looking at somebody who looked almost exactly like himself--the only difference was a scar and some glasses. His father, standing there, a young man once more. Next to him were Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, both of them young too--and there was a fourth person, who Al didn't recognize. An man, who looked old in the face but young in body, who was very shabby looking. His father and this stranger were shouting at each other, and Al caught the words 'Tonks' and 'pregnant'. He watched as his dad was blasted into a wall, because the other man had lost his temper, but then the memory was gone, and Al blinked his eyes, confused.

His vision cleared, green eyes becoming uncloudy, and he realized that his dad must have broken the connection between them, must have gotten under control once more. Quickly, Al reached up to wipe the sweat from his face and run a hand through his hair, unsure if he should be apologizing to his dad, or what. He took a deep breath, realizing that his breathing had become heavier from the effort behind Occlumency. After a pause, he decided that he needed to at least ask what the heck had happened.

"Er...Sorry, dad," he said lamely, reaching up with his left hand to now rub at the back of his neck. He was both embarrassed for the Cissa thing, embarrased for the fight with James, and nervous that he was going to get reprimanced for looking into his dad's own mind. "I...didn't mean to I just...What was that?" Al frowned, thinking for a moment, trying to remember what he had seen. A shabby looking man, a mention of a woman named Tonks...and another word bloomed into his head that made everything clear. Werewolf. Slowly, Al's eyes widened a little bit.

"Was that Teddy's dad?" he choked out, shock written clearly all over his face.

[headauror]

Distracted as he was by the laughter of Peeves, It was with a great deal of surprise that Harry's ears registered the charm as its incantation left Al's lips. Thrown off, his mind for the most part else where, deffences lax, he felt the reverse flux of magic as it turned back on him. Al's own mind plucked out a random thought, a potentially damaging memory from his own subconscious. He was back at Grimauld once more, starring into the livid, wolfish face of one seriously set off Remus Lupin.. he could recall the rage he himself felt, his words flying from his lips, though as if in a sound distorted movie, only a few voicing themselves clearly. An yet he recalled the conversation vividly so it must be the connection.. it was weak.. unsure.. Remus reached for his wand.. Al hadn't meant for this to happen.. the younger Harry went for his wand, not quite in time.. this wouldn't do, Al didn't need to witness this.. his memory self slammed back into the wall, the knot welling on the back of his head all to real, all to fresh.. no..enough[/b].

Collecting his mind Harry severed the connection. It had been many years sense someone had gotten through, and his will to be free of Al's grasp, to be the master of his own mind once more was such that he had to fight to restrain the way in which he broke the connection. Pulling his own subconscious back and holding Al's mind a bay rather than the violent shove his irrational side wished to throw out at the boy. Such was the effort that when the two were once again separate, of their own minds, Harry was a shadow of the boy sitting across from him. Sweat had broken out on his brow, and though he didn't shake with the effort of performance as Al had he sat rather ridged and tense for a brief moment. His hands clenched tightly in to fists, the scared words on his right standing out as self directed anger and reproach at the control it had required not to hex his own child washed over him. Al's apology interrupted his self berating and drawing in a deep breath he forced himself to relax and shoved a hand through the mess of tangles that topped his head while nodding a bit and managing a grim smile for his son.

" No.. I know you didn't son.. was just your minds natural defense. Getting it's pay backs so to speak... And anyway I 'want' you to fight back. Don't ever let anyone attempt to break through to your thoughts without doing all you can to stop them.. that includes me. The minds a very personal thing, its not meant for others to tamper with or view as they see fit. But.." He shrugged as if to say who am I to make that call. " Our world is what it is right? It can be done, so we'd best be ready on our end to deal with it."

A flicker of hope jumped within him as Al at first seemed completely confused by what he had seen. Though as he seemed to think and his features shifted from confusion to that of shock and disbelief Harry sighed and rubbed away the the sweat from his brow with the back of a hand. He cursed himself for not having the foresight to place that memory in with the others , lost to him for the moment, waiting in the Pensive across the room. While the memory in and off itself wasn't a danger to Al. It was something another he thought of as a son never needed to know. And as only he, Ron and Hermione knew of it till this point he'd had little fear of Teddy being told of it. Ron and Hermione knew where he stood on the subject, and after all they'd been through a promise not to bring something to light was as good as an unbreakable vow as far as he was concerned. Not that he didn't trust his son, but Albus had to understand the importance of keeping what he'd witnessed to himself. And Harry of all people knew that when tempers where riled you often lashed out with whatever might inflict the most pain. You'd do it without thinking, find yourself regretting it later but all the same the damage would be done. And with Al so much like him in temperament the boy had to grasp the reason why this could not become one of those random moments.

He was silent for a moment and when he finally spoke it was neither a yes or a no that left Harry's lips as he stared down at his hands. " Son.. sometime.. sometimes even the most caring of people, a person who wants nothing but the best for those they love.. They can make a mistake. Reacted rashly in a way that isn't really for the best, might even upset or hurt those their trying to protect, but it seems the right thing when their minds are clouded by fear or anger." Finally he lifted his gaze to meet Al's. Certain Al would be able to relate to the way he had worded Remus's actions. After all, having viewing Al's run in with the punch at the dance he had a fairly good idea where the anger behind his having punched his fellow Gryffindor had stemmed from. " Sometimes they just need a few choice words of truth from someone who cares to force them to step back and view the bigger picture... You can understand that, can't you?.. Teddy's father was everything I've ever told you he was. He was every bit the steadfast friend, loving father and hero I've told Teddy about. But he wasn't a perfect man, none of us are. He could fear just like any other, and he very much feared the life he thought he may have brought to Tonks and Teddy. Those were dark days.. werewolves were seen in an even less kinder light than they are now. Tonks and Remus were both known to be a part of the Order and Remus had felt he'd doomed his child to come into a world that would refuse him a place within it, that the child and its mother would have much less than a happy life and that he would be the cause of it. He was afraid Albus.. afraid and ashamed because he loved them so much and yet felt he had ruined their lives by his actions. He came around in the end, and actually thanked me for knocking some sense into him.."

Harry smirked trying to bring a small grain of humor into the rather heavy conversation. " ..well.. actual it was Remus who did the knocking I suppose." Rubbing the back of his head where the knot had once be he grinned. Though his expression sobered a bit as he continued. " Al.. I need your word you'll not share what you've seen with anyone.. especially not Teddy. He's got enough to deal with at the moment and what's been told to him is all he has left of his parents besides photos. I don't want him letting one mistake that never actually came about to alter the way he thinks about the father he never got to know. "

[mgirl03]

It wasn't too hard for Al to tell that his father wasn't exactly thrilled with what had just taken place. As he sat there, taking deep breaths and trying to calm down both his body and mind, he noticed that his dad was visibly tense, his hands clenched tightly. For a moment Al was quite worried that he was going to get yelled at, and felt a bit ashamed for not simply trying to break the connection instead of using a spell on his father. However, after he apologized, he saw his dad relax a bit, and saw the attempt for a smile, which caused his fears to be relieved a bit.

Albus blinked, surprised at what his father was telling him. He was supposed to fight back against his own father, using spells too? So that was why his dad had used the pensieve, then? Al was supposed to use spells if he could to break the connection, or at least reverse the roles, thereby being more in control of the situation. He gave a curt nod to show that he understood, feeling a tiny thrill of excitement shoot through him. This was the real deal--his father wasn't going to go easy on him, wasn't going to treat him different, wasn't going to baby him. He was going to be getting real training from now on, and he was going to be really fighting back. There were chances of getting injured, and his mind already felt half fried, but he knew that in the end it would be worth it. As his father pointed out, this was the world they lived in, so they better prepare for whatever could come at them.

Silence fell again as Al slowly came to terms with what he actually saw in his father's memory. He had, of course, recognized his father and his aunt and uncle, but the shabby looking wizard who had been severely distressed and angry was a complete stranger to him. Only after recalling a key word 'Werewolf', and catching things like 'pregnant' and 'Tonks' did he realize that this had to have been Remus Lupin, werewolf and Teddy's father who had ended up dying in the Final Battle. As soon as he asked his father whether he was right in his suspicions, Al ran his hand slowly through his hair again, fiddling with his wand in his right hand.

So that was Teddy's dad, and he had been talking about Tonks being pregnant--Teddy was in the making it seemed. Al's own dad had began to angry, and from what Al could remember from the flash of memory, Remus had been talking about joining his father on a mission of some sort, and leaving behind his wife and unborn child. Al felt a frown tug on his face, not blaming his father for being angry. Why should the man have ditched Teddy and Tonks to help his father--shouldn't he have been with his kids? Sure, he might have been worried about the werewolf thing, but Teddy turned out perfectly fine! Albus was jarred from his memories as his father began to speak.

Listening intently, Al's bright green eyes flickered over his father's face, and at his words he felt a tug in his heart and a twinge in his stomach. His dad wasn't just talking about Remus, of that much Al was sure. His idea that his dad was also trying to make a point about himself and the Soren incident was confirmed when his dad lifted his gaze and a meaningful look was exchanged. That familiar irritated feeling seemed to twinge, but after a moment Al realized that what he was feeling was more like guilt and remorse for his own actions, now anger. Blinking hard, he focused once more on what his dad was now explaining about Teddy's dad.

From the way his father talked, Al couldn't help but wonder how horrible it must have been for Remus Lupin to even live in the wizarding world. If the man, usually brave and loving and responsible like his father had said many times over, had wanted to leave his wife and son because he feared he cursed them by being related to them, then the world for werewolves must have been really horrible. Al slowly nodded along as his father continued speaking, trying to wrap his head around the notion of leaving your family because of being a werewolf and not wanting to burden or curse them with it. However, after a moment he realized that if ever he wanted to say, distance himself from his family or Rory because of an Order mission, it was relatively the same concept. Right?

When his dad tried to bring in a little humor to the situation, Al smiled a little bit, still feeling a bit off kilter with this new information to digest. Whenever he had invisioned the people who died in battle, they always came to mind as perfect heroes, who died while fighting, protecting those they loved and the right of the wizarding world. While that might be true about them, he had never really thought about the fact that they were all still human, too. Teddy's dad making a mistake and leaving him wasn't something Al really thought he should have even concidered, but he didn't end up doing it, and in the end he died for his wife and child. Remus Lupin, it seemed, was still just as noble in Al's mind as before.

After a moment, Al realized that his father was talking again, and he blinked, coming into the conversation again. His dad was telling him that he wasn't allowed to tell Teddy or anybody else about what he had seen, and immediately Al nodded. "Of course," he said sincerely, half smiling at his dad. His smile faultered a bit though, at the thought of having to keep one more secret. These meetings were already something he wasn't allowed to tell or talk about with anybody else. He was keeping this big of a thing from Rory, and soon he would have a whole load of memories and other secrets to hold to his heart. Well, he had signed up for it...

"I think I understand why he did it," he said after a pause, half smiling once more and glancing down at the floor. After a pause, he reached up to rub at his temple, feeling the setting in of a headache. WAs that from the Occlumency, the stress he was always under lately, or the notion of having to keep more secrets? Al wasn't sure, but in any case he felt a small stab of foreboding go through his stomach. These lessons would be very hard, harder than he had ever imagined, and the thought scared him a little. He had, however, wanted to learn how to defend himself, and if he had to practically die in the process...well, so be it, right?