“Legilimens.” The Dark Lord’s stare bored into Severus’s mind, boring through Snape’s thoughts like a snake winding through the corridors of his mind. “Do you truly not care for the girl?” Severus knew what a skilled Legilimens the Dark Lord was, but the Dark Lord would never know what a skilled Occlumens Severus was himself. Severus had practiced the lie for years before the information was ever asked of him. It was not he who had an unbreakable loyalty to the mudblood; it was another man: James Potter, his sworn nemesis. It was not he who desperately yearned for her. Snape was a loyal servant of the Dark Lord, through and through. What would the death of a mudblood be to him? That one corner of his mind was an ironclad fortress, impenetrable by even himself at times. “What is it to me, if she dies?” The Dark Lord’s gaze lingered for a moment before he slightly inclined his head. “Good.” ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ “Legilimens.” With more effort than he expected, Snape bore into Harry’s mind. Scenes flickered through his mind’s eye as he lived through snatches of Harry’s life. He wasn’t as skilled a Legilimens as the Dark Lord, and if he could break through himself, then the Dark Lord certainly would. He was a jealous Harry, seeing his cousin get a new bike when Harry got nothing. He was terrified and embarrassed, clinging to the tree branch as Ripper bit at his baggy clothing. He heard the Sorting Hat whisper to Harry’s ears that Slytherin would suit him well. Guilt swept over him, seeing Hermione’s black-furred face from the polyjuice potion gone wrong. Both terror and expectation as a hundred dementors closed in on him beside the dark lake. A flushed Draconia Malfoy drawing closer to him as they stood under the mistletoe. . . . So many questions answered in the blink of an eye; but he would have to reconcile his thoughts later. If the Potter boy was to survive the Dark Lord’s assault, he would need to grow far stronger. With his mind so unguarded, all of the Potter boy’s friends and family would be at risk. The remainder of the lesson was a disappointment, as always. As Potter’s child left the room, Severus exhaled. “Do it for her!” he wanted to scream at him. “Don’t you see you’ll kill her🙺” But like his father, he would never listen. More importantly: if the Dark Lord were watching, his outburst would endanger the innocent girl he hoped to protect. Severus felt the world close in around himself—even in this second chance, thick with irony, he felt powerless. He wound a long red hair around his finger and slowed his breaths. There was still time. [first saw the Malfoid pic from @ReadingKnight35]