Oh, joy, he thought, then decided that was a reasonably Severus thing to say, so he repeated it out loud.

Katryna only smiled. "I've decided I'm going to be a psychologist. You will be my first patient."

Severus stared at her, and he was sure he heard someone, probably Fletcher, laughing. "And you are how old?"

"Thirteen," she told him, as if he should already know that. Having already been told she was in third-year, that was a fairly reasonable guess.

"And how long have you had this ambition?" he asked her, ignoring her tone.

"Well, since just after our last conversation, and I started looking up 'repressed memories' in the library. I think hypnosis would do you good. I already sent Valr an owl, asking him to send me some muggle books about it, since they do that kind of thing more often."

"Valr's another of your brothers?" Severus guessed, trying not to hear Fletcher's continuing chuckles.

Katryna leaned forward. "Did you just remember that?" she asked eagerly.

He gave her his best glower. "No. That was a logical deduction."

She sat back, looking visibly disappointed. "Oh."

"Why do you care if I get my memory back or not?" he asked suddenly, black eyes narrowed in suspicion.

The girl shrugged, looking suddenly aloof. He was abruptly forced to notice that she looked remarkably like a Malfoy with her perfect white-blond hair, and slightly too narrow nose. Especially with that feature turned up in the air like that. "Oh, I don't really. It would just be an interesting challenge to get them back, wouldn't it?"

Severus made a sound at the back of his throat that might pass for a laugh. "Did anyone ever tell you that you look just like Malfoy" Lucius, Draco, it didn't matter which she thought he meant, they were disturbingly similiar anyway, "when you do that?"

She didn't look terribly offended. "He's a second cousin on my father's side. I always thought the twins looked more like the Weasleys than I do a Malfoy, though. My grandmother is Draco's father's father's sister." She sounded like this bit of geneology was something she had repeated on more than one occassion.

"Lucius's aunt?" Severus simplified.

She grinned, "Well, yeah. If you want to be so vague about it. That doesn't even neccessarily prove blood relation." She frowned and narrowed her pale blue eyes in mock suspicion. "You're not sidetracking me that easily, Severus."

He wondered what deity he had severely irritated in a past life (or possibly this one during the time that he couldn't remember) that he was now being punished by a Malfoy decendant with a muggle psychology fascination and a complete lack of fear of him. "You do realize I am a Death Eater, right?" he asked, just to make sure she knew that he was supposed to be dangerous and not a fun project to play mind-doctor with.

She shrugged. "All the more reason for you to need a psychologist," she pointed out reasonably. "Let's see. Amensia," she ticked off one of her fingers, "Stress and shock of seemingly being transported in time," another finger joined the first, "anti-social and violent behaviour," a third, "and, finally, grief about the loss of your parents," she finshed, add a last finger with a flourish. "You need serious help, Severus."

"What do you know about my parents?" he asked, more incredulous and stunned by the last item than upset or offended.

"I sent a letter to my grandmother, you know, the Malfoy one, and she wrote back saying that your parents died when you were in fourth year, which is somewhat after you last memory, so you are suffering their loss now." She sounded remarkably like Hermione when she said that.

Severus stared at her. "And how would your grandmother know?"

"Because," she started, then looked up at Fletcher, who was watching this exchange in amused interest. She leaned across the table, trying not to crumple the papers and books arrayed in front of him, and whispered in his ear, barely loud enough for even him to make out. "Because she, unlike my hopeless imprisoned grandfather, actually is a Death Eater." After this announcement, she resumed her seat and looked at him with a raised blond eyebrow. Aloud, for Fletcher's benefit, Severus assumed because it certainly didn't make any sense to him, she added, "And he told her so." Severus was suddenly very uncertain about Miss Katryna Tragyl's true loyalties.

She had, after all, made most of her efforts of friendship after he had openly admitted to being a Death Eater. Like her grandmother. Who was obviously still free and unsuspected. Severus's head hurt. He wasn't supposed to be doing his spying here. Nobody in their right minds was supposed to even approach him. Those wanting an in with Voldemort were supposed to be scared away by Fletcher, and everyone else was supposed to be scared away by him. And he didn't know which of them was failing to do their job of keeping Katryna away.

An uncomfortable silence spread between them until Katryna smiled brightly. "I expect you to have your first appointment tomorrow. We can meet in the potions room right after dinner." She looked up at Fletcher. "You won't be allowed inside of course. This is strictly confidential, and I wouldn't want him to feel like he wasn't comfortable or that he risked having his words repeated."

Severus stole a look at the auror. He was looking decidedly less amused now. "That is impossible, Miss Tragyl."

Katryna gave him a small frown. "Is it that you can't let him out of your sight, or the not being able to hear what he says that bothers you? Because my brother Valr, he's training to be a lawyer, and he's learned a few cool spells about cones of silence, so we could have our private interview, and you could still be in the same room, if that makes you feel better." She paused a moment, considering her own compromise, then added, "We'll need to reschedule, of course. I won't be able to get an owl back from him before tomorrow, since he uses muggle mail to get his messages."

Fletcher frowned, obviously not liking this at all, which made Severus open up to it, just a little. If nothing else, it would give him a chance to talk, as Severus, without being eavesdropped on for a short period of time, and maybe, just maybe, he could get some new intelligence for Dumbledore without even leaving the school. He decided to help her convince Fletcher to go for it. "No way. I am not going to sit through a conversation and let you analyze me. You don't even know what you're doing."

"I have read some very good books on the subject," Katryna defended herself.

Severus rolled his eyes. "It's still stupid."

Then Katryna said the magical words. Or non-magical words. "But the muggles have been practicing this for decades. It really works." Obviously, to Fletcher, using muggle means precludes a person from being a Voldemort sympathizer.

"It couldn't hurt," Fletcher drawled. "Your mind's already messed up, after all. Very well, Miss Tragyl. The potions classroom, three days from now, after dinner then?"

She smiled beautifically up at him. "Thank you so much, Auror Fletcher. Within no time, he'll have his memory back, and then he'll realize that You-Know-Who isn't all he's cracked up to be. Then with all his great skills in potions he can turn himself normal again." She turned a hard look back to Severus, "You do know that you switched back to the Light side, don't you?" And for just a second, he wondered if the accusing look in her eyes was because he didn't remember or because he was a traitor.

Severus sat up abruptly in the Gryffindor dormitory, gasping in pain, his eyes wide in the dark. He clutched his arm to his chest, and was very glad he hadn't screamed out. His sleeping classmates might have attributed it to a nightmare, but they would've wanted to know what was wrong with his arm. Harry, Ron, and Hermione aside, he really did not need any Gryffindors knowing the answer to that question.

He climbed slowly out of his bed, mindful of the hideous squeaking it had let out when he got in. Tomorrow he was definitely going to need to go down to the kitchens to let the house elves hear his complaints. For now, he just made his way down to the common room. He was pleased to see Harry already there. "Don't you ever sleep?" he asked, once he was standing directly behind the oblivious older boy. Harry startled, jerking away from the flames he had been contemplating.

"Don't you?" Harry retorted, turning around, but his expression quickly sobered as he saw the way Severus was cradling his arm. "Another summoning?"

Severus shrugged, not really sure. "It's more like a low boil instead of a raging blaze like it was the last two times. I didn't even scream when it woke me up. I don't know what it means." Harry made a wide gesture, signalling his equal ignorance. Severus flopped onto the sofa beside his friend. "This is supposed to be Severus's problem. I'm Matty right now. I'm supposed to be able to sleep a night through," he complained. Not bitterly, exactly, but close. "Tomorrow I have third year classes, which will be hard enough without being exhausted. Plus, Katryna will be in them."

"Katryna?" Harry asked archly, with a hint of something Severus couldn't identify. "Is she pretty?"

Severus gave him an are-you-crazy sort of look. "She's Draco Malfoy's second cousin. Looks like him, too, but -" he waved his hand vaguely, "more girly. What do you care if she's pretty or not?"

Harry shrugged, and Severus could swear the older boy was looking smug or something. "Just as your big brother, sort of, I thought you might want to tell me about this girl you like."

"I do not like her!" Severus exclaimed, keeping his voice down at the last second. "She's a suspect!"

Harry frowned, all hints of teasing lost in his confusion. "A suspect? Of what?"

"Being a Dark Witch," Severus whispered. "Her grandmum is a Death Eater, she said. And she's being real friendly to Severus. Something's not right with that girl."

Harry gave him a considering look. "She's nice to Severus?" he repeated.

Severus nodded, barely noticing that he was talking about himself in the third person. "It's weird. He's been really mean to her, too. Of course, she fancies herself a psychologist and wants to save him from himself or some such nonsense. She wants to talk about his parents."

Harry took his time answering. "Why does she want to do that?"

"Because they died when Professor Snape was in fourth year," Severus whispered.

"Oh," Harry said. Then he apparently felt the need to say it again. "Oh."

"For some reason," Severus continued, annoyed at the girl's pushing herself into business that was not her own, "she thinks that, with everything else going on, Severus hasn't dealt with that yet."

Very, very carefully, as if expecting something to break, Harry asked, "Have you?"

Severus startled, and looked up at him with only sort-of pretend scared eyes. "My parents just died in a Death Eater attack, and then I had to change schools before even seeing the bodies. Of course not. You don't think Katryna will try to talk to me, too, do you?"

"Severus?" Harry sounded very worried now.

"What?"

"Are you all right?"

Severus shook his head. "My arm hurts." But that wasn't what Harry meant, and they both knew it.

"You weren't kidding this afternoon, were you?"

Severus stared into the fire that had so captivated Harry before his arrival. When he began to speak quietly, Harry had to lean closer to hear him. Severus himself wasn't sure if he was talking to Harry or just thinking out loud. "I still know I'm Severus, if that's what you're worried about. I still know Matty's just a figment of our collective imaginations. I know my parents are dead, and have been for years." There, Katryna, I said it. See? I have dealt with it. "I know the act of Severus isn't the real Severus. I know I'm a Slytherin. The hat would have put me there again in an instant, if it hadn't realized that doing so would probably kill me. I know I'm only twelve, but that I'm acting a lot older than that. I know I'm scared to death."

"Of what?" Harry asked, equally quietly, after a few moments silence between them.

Severus just shrugged. Listing the myraid of things he was afraid of would guarantee that he would never find sleep tonight.

Harry touched his shoulder softly, careful not to jar his burning arm. "Sometimes talking about it helps."

"Sometimes it just makes you scareder," Severus replied, eyes never leaving the flames.

"You're not alone, Sev. You do know that, too, right?"

Severus remained silent.

Harry sighed. "Well, you're not. You've got me, and Ron, and Hermione, and Uncle Albus here for you all the time. Matty might be a polite fiction, but his adoption papers were real enough. And the three of us are your big brothers and sister. Even if that's not official."

Severus glanced aside at him, and smirked. "What about Fred and George?"

"What about them?" Harry asked, looking a little happier now that his 'little brother' wasn't looking so depressed.

Confusion suddenly took hold, as it occured to him that he had no idea why that had struck him as funny. Feeling more than a little embarrassed and lost, he asked, "Um. Who are they?"

Harry frowned. "Fred and George?"

"Yeah."

"Ron's brothers."

"Oh." Well, that would be why he had brought them up then, wouldn't it. Katryna, of course, would be having a field day at the moment, but Harry didn't know about the snatch of memory he'd gotten about her brother. "Are they my big brothers, too?"

Harry grinned. "Sure. And Charlie, Bill, Percy and Ginny, too, while we're at it. You'll need to come visit the Burrow sometime." Then his smile turned wicked. "And you'll just need to try some of the sweets Fred and George make up."

Severus did not trust that smile. Not at all. Way too much like James's. And his nebulous, instinctive feelings towards the names 'Fred and George' told him he should never ever ever put anything into his mouth that they had touched first. Not if he didn't want to turn into a canary.

Harry looked at him sharply. "What?"

Severus lifted his dark eyebrows innocently. "I didn't say anything."

"No, you said 'Canary,' I heard you." He sounded disappointed. "I suppose the Slytherins already spread rumours about the canary creams to you then."

"About what?" he asked blankly.

Harry smiled that disturbing James smile again. "Well if you haven't then, I'm not going to share the secret yet."

Severus narrowed his eyes, "You're not considering pranking me, Potter, are you?"

Harry grinned, "Well, gee, Snape, I can't imagine why you would think so."

Well, that confirmed it right there. But why the warning? James never gave him a warning.

"Sev, it's between friends and near-brothers. I'm trying to make you laugh, not freak you out," Harry said, drawing Severus's attention back to him. All likeness of James had fled the older boy's expression, replaced by concern.

Severus forced a smile, but couldn't disband the wariness. "Not used to that kind of prank from Potters."

Harry blinked. "Oh. Sorry. I'll put you in the Hermione category, then."

"The Hermione category?" Severus repeated, entirely confused again.

Harry grinned, though it was more subdued than it had been. "The has-no-sense-of-humour-when-she-gets-turned-into-a-canary category."

At that, Severus did laugh. "I suppose you found that out the hard way?"

Harry's grin broadened, "Fortunately, no. The twins made that mistake first."

"Fred and George," Severus said, by way of clarification. Neither Harry nor his finicky memory had explicitly stated yet that Fred and George were twins, but it made sense.

"Yeah." They sat in silence for a few more moments. "Does your arm still hurt?"

Severus shrugged. "Not as bad. I can probably sleep through it now. I don't think it was a summoning, though, what it was, I can't guess."

"Then you should probably try to sleep."

Severus nodded. He was halfway to the stairs before he turned back. "You should, too, Harry."

The older boy nodded. "I will soon."

Severus hesitated a long moment, before asking, "You're not just up in case I need to talk, are you?"

It took a moment, but Harry did eventually shake his head.

Severus considered sitting next to his friend and letting him tell of his troubles, but decided one heart-to-heart was enough for one night. Still, he took a step closer, and asked, "Why, then?"

Harry gave him a smile. "Go to sleep, Severus."

"Ok, but tomorrow, we talk about you for a change," he promised, then darted up the stairs before Harry could argue.