Where Lies Will Not Blossom

Author: Akumu Suta-Raito

Fandom: Harry Potter

Rating: R (Adult)

Genre: Romance, Drama, Angst, H/C

Pairing: Harry/Draco

Warnings: Language, Anal, Explicit Torture, Disturbing imagery.

Disclaimer: In no way, shape or form do I own any portion of the Harry Potter Universe. I am not making any profit from this fanfiction.

Summary: When Draco disobeys everything he’s learned in a single action, he is made a prisoner in his own home. Can Harry and Severus save him, or will he be destroyed by an obsessive Dark Lord's plans? Can bonds of love and friendship triumph over ultimate evil? Harry/Draco, H/C, Tort, Lang, Anal

Author’s Note: Okay, so this chapter is my longest one yet. Just think of it as a belated Christmas/New Years present, lol. Sorry for the delay, I’ve been busy with school then it took me a long time to get this chapter right. I’m still not fully satisfied with it. I’ve been spending most of my time out of school developing this story, so I hope you all like the upcoming chapters. Originally, the rescue was going to be all in one chapter, but considering the rescue turned into a monster word count, I’ve decided to split them up. Don’t worry, though. The rest is coming soon—you won’t have to wait much longer. Also, I tried my hardest not to end with a terrible cliff-hanger, but I don’t know if I succeeded, so I apologize in advance.

Thanks to my wonderful beta, Vittani, for looking over this past chapter. You are a life saver.

P.S: I reached the hundred mark for reviews on ff.net and I am so unbelievably happy. I wanted to thank everyone for reviewing. I hope that you continue to tell me how you feel about the story!

Have fun reading!

Chapter Fourteen: The Raid, Pt. 1

Sirius walked back to his room in a daze, only the echoing numbing presence of the house keeping him from exploding. Remus had not only been keeping things from him – the other man was part of a raid that could get him killed and he hadn’t even thought to tell Sirius. What would have happened if Remus never returned and Sirius was just left… waiting?

Because he wasn’t strong. Not like Remy was. He wouldn’t, couldn’t, survive in a world where Remus didn’t exist. Even in Azkaban, surrounded by Dementors and raging at his false imprisonment, the fact that Remus was alive somewhere, perhaps even happy, had given him a sense of satisfaction. Never mind that fact that Remus had been alive and hating him, only the werewolf’s continuing existence had kept him going for those twelve years.
The idea more than shook him; did he mean so little to Remus? Entering into his room and collapsing onto his unmade bed, Sirius decided that he wasn’t exactly fit to judge Remus in that aspect. When he left Grimmauld Place like a bat out of hell to go fight at the Department of Mysteries, he hadn’t exactly been worrying about anything else other than finally getting to leave the damn place.

But it wasn’t exactly fair for Remus to do the same thing to him. Especially for a Malfoy. Sirius’ lip curled up unconsciously. Lucius Malfoy had been the most stuck-up, arrogant, poncy git he’d ever had the displeasure of knowing as a teen, and now the bastard had grown up and became a murderer to boot. And no doubt he’d taught his son the same lessons in cruelty and depravity – at least, that was what Sirius got from listening to Harry’s stories about the snooty brat.

Dressing up as a dementor to try and make someone fall from their broom at sixty feet in the air.

Honestly, who does something like that?

A bloody sociopath, that’s who. And Remus was planning on going about his merry way and ‘rescuing’ Malfoy while running headlong into the most obvious trap pulled since the beginning of the Second War. Without telling his lover. Sirius snorted at the thought.

Like hell he was.

Remus, for all of his intelligence and astuteness, was ridiculously gullible and a sucker for a sad story. That’s why he had Sirius, to protect him from falling for other people’s bullshit. Whatever Snape – the damned turncoat – had thought up, his Remy wasn’t going to get caught up in it.

Resolved, Sirius stretched out on the bed and waited for his lover to get out of his meeting. Then he would explain to his poor little werewolf that he
was being had.


“See-ya tomorrow, Remus,” Tonks called as she narrowly dodged a flap in the carpet that would have sent her sprawling. Afterwards, of course, she ran into a bust of Sirius’ great-great-something or other and nearly knocked it over.

Remus waved back, shaking his head in affectionate exasperation. He’d known Tonks almost as long as he’d known Sirius. Back then, of course, she was only Sirius’ kid cousin who happened to have a crush on his werewolf friend—Sirius used to snicker every time she looked up at Remus in adoration with her multicolored eyes. Now, though, Tonks was an adult (relatively, at least) and an accomplished Auror to boot. It was unfortunate she’d never grown out of her inherent clumsiness, however.

He was just happy that she’d grown out of her crush.

Remus sighed slightly, inhaling the scent of the hallway out of pure habit and froze. Why did the entire space have the lingering smell of dog? A grim, to be exact?

“Damn,” he cursed in a rare moment of anger, anger that was mostly directed towards himself. If Sirius had followed him, if he’d heard… Remus could have jeopardized the entire operation. And they were so close, having gone so long without being discovered. Of course, it helped that Albus tended to send everyone out on ‘urgent business’ while they were planning at Grimmauld place, but still.

He’d thought that, by snogging Sirius silly before leaving to meet the others, he’d thrown his lover off his track. He should have known better. Sirius wouldn’t fall for a trick like that, especially if he thought that Remus was hiding something from him. Sirius tended to get reckless when he thought something was being kept from him, and the last thing Remus needed was for the man to do something that would nearly get him killed—again.

It was settled then. He would have to speak to Sirius about this and make the other man understand how important this mission was. Hopefully, the animagus wasn’t able to hear much (Severus must have fired off no less than twenty enchantments before starting the meeting) and Remus could get the man off his back for a day or two. That was all he needed, as they would be going to Malfoy Manor tomorrow.

He forcibly ignored the nagging feeling of guilt—he wasn’t doing anything wrong by keeping his lover in the dark. Sirius couldn’t be a part of this mission. His magic was still far too depleted and it would just make the other man worry if he knew Remus was going on a raid. But what if something happened and… he didn’t come back? How could put Sirius through what he went through when the other man went through the Veil?

But did he have the right to tell his love the truth, knowing that an innocent life might be jeopardized in the process? Remus felt like bashing his head
against the wall. He didn’t know what to do, and that was particularly vexing.

But perhaps he was getting ahead of himself. First he needed to go to Sirius and find out what the other man knew. It could be nothing (there really was an excess of warding on the door). There was no sense in thinking all this up until he talked to Sirius.

Which is why it took him ten minutes of standing outside his lover’s door before gaining the courage to actually open it. He, of course, knew that Sirius was aware of his prescence, something that didn’t bode well. If his lover knew he was there and didn’t come to greet him that meant he was angry with Remus.

Which meant he’d heard more than Remus hoped he had.

Steeling his resolve and mustering up his courage, Remus let out a heavy sigh and opened the door, nearly cringing at this slight of his lover’s pseudo-relaxed pose on the bed. This was bad.

“Hey,” he murmured slightly, reluctant to move away from the door. For a moment it looked as if Sirius wouldn’t answer him when he got a sudden:

“What the hell are you doing standing at the door like that? It’s not like I’m going to bite you, although you probably deserve it with, oh,” Sirius brought
up his fingers, ticking them when he made a point, “I don’t know, how about we start with the fact that you’ve been keeping Order business from me, which obviously means I’m below your trust, the fact that you told Harry of all people, an impulsive teenager, my godson who doesn’t need to be in the middle of whatever you and Snape have going on at the moment, which brings me to my next point, which is: you’re letting fucking Snape endanger your life by going along with this fools errand, and you weren’t going to fucking tell me a thing! When was I going to find out, huh? When you were lying dead at Voldemort’s feet?” The last part was nearly hissed out with rage, but Remus could hear all of the other emotions underneath it: fear, worry, insecurity, and most importantly, love.

“Sirius,” Remus started helplessly, wondering how he was going to justify himself. “You are making it sound as if this mission revolves around you: it doesn’t. It’s a rescue mission, I was recruited for it by Severus,” At this Sirius gave a derisive snort, “however, the raid is sanctioned by Albus. It is his plan, I’m not blinding following someone on a ‘fool’s errand’. I wouldn’t do that.”

Sirius got up off the bed and began to pace. “But you don’t understand. Albus has always trusted people that he shouldn’t, and Severus is just the latest of a long list of wizards gone wrong. The man may be headmaster, but he’s not invulnerable. He made a mistake, that’s all. But I’m not letting you get hurt for it.”

Sirius walked closer to Remus, and the werewolf was suddenly struck by how odd Sirius was acting. He’d honestly expected far more yelling and arguments that didn’t make sense. But this… this was different and it was making Remus oddly nervous.

“Love,” the animagus began, resting his hands on Remus’ shoulders. “I know you’re trying to do the right thing. I’m not vexed with you for that, I’ve always admired that part of you. But Snape is just taking advantage of your need to help others, he’s stringing you along with some idiotic story about Draco Malfoy trying to save some Muggle girl.”

The man paused, taking Remus’ wide eyes and tense frame as a good sign. Continuing on, his voice became exceedingly gentle, “And we both know you’re a bit naïve and gullible, when it comes to things like this you can’t be counted on to see through—”

“Excuse me?” Remus had felt guilty, but now he was taken over by another emotion—anger. Prying Sirius’ hands not so gently from his shoulder, Remus turned for a moment and fired off a silencing charm. He had no doubt that things would be getting a bit… loud in a moment. “Are you insinuating that I’m too stupid to see through a smoke screen? That all Severus had to do was shine a sad story in front of my face and I’d fall for it, because I’m so bloody naïve?” How in the hell could Sirius act as if he needed every decision made for him when he’d managed to survive twelve years of prejudice without a friend or lover to call on—twelve years without Sirius? Did the man really think he was so pathetically weak?

Sirius’ eyes widened. “No, that’s not what I’m saying at all. Sometimes, you just need to be protected from—”

“Oh, now I’m a fragile lamb that needs protecting for the big, bad wolf,” Remus hissed out, his voice sounding more like a growl. “Need I remind you, that if I get angry enough, I can bench-press a Muggle car? Or were you so involved in this fantasy of painting me out to be some brain-dead damsel in distress that you managed to forget that little fact?”

“You don’t—”

“I know exactly what I’m doing, Sirius. I’m taking part in rescuing—”

“Malfoy,” Sirius cried out incredulously. “You’re not able to see how bloody stupid this is? The whole lot of them are pure evil – there’s not been a good wizard with the last name Malfoy. Ever! You can’t –”

“First off, he’s not just a Malfoy – he’s a human being, a boy that’s the same age as Harry! And you know, more than anyone, that people don’t have to live up to the darkness of their family name. Or have you suddenly forgotten your full name, Sirius Orion Black?”

“I,” Sirius sputtered out. “That is completely different and you know it. I never followed my family’s ideals, and that brat has been nothing but a Death
Eater loving, muggle-born hating, pain in the arse bully who takes pride in throwing around his father’s influence! The moment he turns to the Light like I did, I’ll eat the Sorting Hat! He is everything we both hate and are currently trying to rid the world of! He’s Death Eater scum and I refuse to let you endanger yourself!”

“That brat,” Remus roared out, “is more of a hero than you were at that age, or did you suddenly forget that your rebellion to the Light Side included the constant humiliation and attempted murder of a fellow student! He risked his life to save a Muggle girl, and don’t you dare tell me that story is a lie, and is suffering for his good deed. Yes, he’s made mistakes—but who in this world hasn’t? You are a damn hypocrite of the worst kind; you and that child could go up against each other for the bully of Hogwarts any day! At least he never tried to kill a classmate! You are so full of shite you can’t even see clearly—you were more of a Death Eater back then that Draco Malfoy ever was now!”

Remus paled the moment he finished his rant, unable to believe the things he’d just said. Not that all of it wasn’t true to a certain extent, but he’d been
cruel to bring up things from the past, things that hadn’t talked about in years. Sirius was staring at him like a man who was shell-shocked, his expression unaccountably hurt.

“Oh, gods Sirius… I’m-I’m s-sorry,” Remus stammered, not sure how to make this better.

Sirius was tense, his mouth set into a hard line, and for a moment, Remus thought the man would tell him to leave. Instead, the tension slowly left the other man’s form, but Remus was unable to relax.

Sirius sighed, turning pain filled eyes to Remus and running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry too. Look… I was out of line attacking you like that the moment you came in, then by acting like a condescending arsehole. I think that… we both said things we didn’t mean. Or… maybe said things we did mean, just not in the way we should have said them.”

Remus grimaced, nodding slightly. “I wasn’t exactly at my best either. I didn’t mean to dreg up the past like that. I… I just… I know what I’m doing is right.”

Sirius’ stared at his lover, knowing that he couldn’t stop him, but wondering if tonight would be the last time he saw him. “I’ll respect your wishes in this, but I’ll fucking end Snape if there’s one misplaced hair on your head because of his actions. There won’t be a rock his slimy arse can hide under—”

“Sirius,” Remus warned.

Sirius smiled softly, saying, “I know, I know, he’s a good guy and all that. But if you don’t come back…” Sirius trailed off.

“I’ll come back,” Remus murmured, amber eyes serious and shining with the power he kept hidden so often.

Sirius walked closer to the other man, joining their hands and pulling Remus to him. Enclosing him in his arms, Sirius smiled slightly as the shorter man tucked his head under Sirius’ chin. “Sorry,” Remus whispered against the other man’s neck, causing him to shiver.

“I know, love. Me too.”


Okay. So he might have a thing for Snape. Not the end of the world, now is it?

'Well, to some it might be,' Bill thought as imagined the look on the twins’ faces, not to mention Ron’s, once they found out who their older brother’s latest conquest was. He snickered at the thought.

But the more time he spent the in the presence of the older wizard, the more he realized how truly amazing he was. No, he wasn’t necessarily attractive, but he had a certain charm to him, something that spoke greater than his hooked nose and greasy hair. He was smart. So smart that it was scary at times, and Bill would get this particular chill down his spine when the other man thought up something particularly devious. Because that was the thing about Snape, he wasn’t just brilliant, he was clever too.

And he was vulnerable, though he tried to hide it. It was part of the reason he was constantly spitting vitriol to anyone within hearing distance—he knew what others thought of him and reasoned that being the slightest bit pleasant was a waste of time. He figured people would hate him regardless of his actions, so why not give them a reason?

But there were other parts of Severus, parts that were obscured for him. There was a mystery, something that Bill didn’t understand. It was intriguing for someone like him. Bill was, as he liked to term it, a people watcher. If he was able to spend a bit of time in an individual’s presence, he was usually able to see what makes them tick (to coin a popular Muggle phrase). He’d known Fleur the moment he saw her, knew her intelligence and wit and beauty—but he also saw her arrogance and bigotry and the snootiness that would always hold her back. She would never be able to reach her full potential until she lost her, most likely inherited, self importance and saw that anything worth having was worth fighting for. Beauty would open a lot of doors, but just as many would stay closed if Fleur made no effort to open them.

They were still seeing each other, technically, although they only met for the occasionally drink and ‘lesson’. He knew there would be no future in that relationship, but hell, the sex was amazing.

But that fact that he didn’t have it all figured out now was… well, a bit of a turn on. Man, he couldn’t wait to get Severus out of his element, see what was beneath all of that—

He was pulled out of his slightly lecherous thoughts by the sound of the door opening creakily. Bill was a bit early—they weren’t set to leave until two hours from now—but he’d hoped to catch Severus alone. He fought down disappointment at seeing it was only Harry. Not that he didn’t like the kid, he did. Harry was like another brother (albeit a less annoying one). He’d just… wanted it to be Severus.

“Hey, Harry. You’re a bit early to be seeing us off.” He noticed with a bit of concern that the boy’s ever present dark-circles under his eyes hadn’t seemed to lighten. If anything, they’d gotten darker. He wondered what Harry’d seen this time. Probably not something relevant to the rescue, but it had to have been damn disturbing.

“I suppose,” Harry muttered, collapsing in a chair next to Bill with a sigh. “I just feel as if I should be doing something… more, somehow.”

“Don’t think like that, kid,” Bill replied. “You’ve done plenty—”

Harry snorted. “You mean walking around like an Inferi, being useless with planning, and generally getting in the way. Yeah, I’ve been a real asset to the team,” Harry said, words nearly dripping with sarcasm.

“Geez, Harry. Hold the Slytherin, why don’t you? And don’t beat yourself up so much about things you can’t control. You have helped. You’re the only one here besides Severus with experience in dealing with the Dark Lord. And Severus hasn’t ever dueled with him.”

The Gryffindor sighed. “I know all of that. But I just wished that I couldn’t have sped things up—it’s taken so damn long to get to this point, to the actual rescue.”

“I know you haven’t been part of any other raiding operations, but the time it took us to come up with a plan was unprecedented. It usually takes months.”

Harry’s mouth tightened for a moment and Bill got the distinct impression that he was grinding his teeth. “Yeah. I know. But that doesn’t make me feel any better. You don’t know how much pain he’s in… what’s happening. He’s suffering, so much—” Harry stopped, his voice choked and low.

“Harry, have you seen something? Have things gotten… worse for Draco,” Bill asked hesitantly. It was still an odd feeling, risking his life for someone he’d never met. For a Malfoy, the near sworn enemies of his family; but he knew that he was doing the right thing and didn’t want anything to happen to the boy. Especially not now. Not when they were so close to saving him.

The boy shook his head. “I’m not sure… I don’t think so. I’ve had a couple of dreams, but I can’t remember what I saw in them. Most of all, though, is what Voldemort has been feeling over the past couple of days. One moment, he’s filled with rage, the other he’s feeling… I don’t even know how to describe it. I would call it happiness, or-or pleasure even, but that bastard’s far too sick to read like you would a normal person. I’m really worried for Malfoy…” Harry smiled ruefully, shaking his head again. “I can’t believe it, I’m worried about Malfoy, of all people. I would have laughed myself silly if anyone had told me a year ago—but he’s not a bad person. Not the monster I’d always thought he was. Once he’s all healed up, he’ll probably be as
much of a prick, though.”

Bill snorted at that. “Yeah, probably.”

The two sat in silence for a couple of minutes, waiting for the others to arrive. Severus arrived without his customary swirling robes, instead wearing rather tight fitting battle robes. Bill’s mouth hung open, his throat dry as he saw something, a glimmer—but it was gone too fast for him to identify. And he was left with the Severus he’d always known. The Severus that was more attractive, harshly (and unknowingly) sexual than any other person he’d ever known. That damned glamour. What in Merlin’s name was it hiding?

Could it possibly be more amazing then what he was seeing now?

Bill’s mouth was still open, and he was either about to make a complete and utter fool out of himself by 1.) drooling, or 2.) using the cheesiest, most disgusting pick-up line possible, when he was saved by Remus’ timely entrance. A Remus who was oddly flustered, almost as if he’d run to the room, and… were those hickeys on his neck?

Bill wasn’t given much time to ponder on this subject when Harry practically bound towards the werewolf, his face suddenly determined and resolute.

“Remus, I—”

Remus either knew Harry in and out, or possessed Seer blood, because he immediately responded with a resounding, “No,” his face shadowed and serious.

“But—” the teen began.

“No, Harry. You can’t come with us. Surely you understand that?” Remus said softly, trying to reason with the boy. Bill and Severus stared at the two with slightly incredulous stares; surly Harry wasn’t thinking of coming with them? “It would be far too dangerous, and I would never forgive myself for putting you in harm’s way.”

Harry shook his head, a familiar stubborn gleam lighting his bright eyes. “I can help you, I know I can! I’ve been researching and I know loads of defensive and offensive spells, plus I’ll be able to sense when Voldemort is nearby. I’m not a child, I can be of use. You need me to –”

“Oh, Potter knows loads of defensive spells. I’ve never felt safer,” Severus sneered out, giving the boy a disbelieving glance. Just when he though the
Gryffindor had gained a mediocre amount of intelligence, he suggests something so utterly stupid. How… typical.

“No one asked for your opinion, you—” Harry growled out angrily.

“Harry,” Remus cut the boy off, far more sternly then he had before. “You are not coming with us and that is final. You are best suited here, and you know that. Mr. Malfoy will be in a bad way when we get him out of there, not to mention that many of us will likely get hurt in the process as well, and we need you to begin preparing for that—that is why we’ve brushed you up on the most vital healing spells. You’re responsible for Flooing to Poppy if everyone is too injured to do so ourselves, and you know well that if Sirius doesn’t have someone keeping an eye on him, he’ll follow us! Your godfather is far too weak to be participating in a raid, and I’m counting on you to make sure he doesn’t.”

Harry paled slightly. “S-Sirius knows?”

“Yes, he’s aware of the raid. And it’s all that…” Remus faltered for a moment, stopped by the utter malevolence in Snape’s dark stare. Perhaps he should have pulled Severus aside and told him? Yes, that would have been a better approach. “…all that I could do to convince him to stay here. If there’s no one to keep him from running off, that’s exactly what he’ll do. And the last thing I want is a repeat of the Department of Mysteries. I haven’t even allowed him to come see me off for that very reason—I have no doubted he’d tag-Apparate if given half the chance.” He hated to play on Harry’s sense of obligation here, but he’d do what he had to if it insured the boy would be out of harm’s way.

“Yes, Potter,” Snape sneered out, recovering rather quickly from his rage-induced stupor. “Keep your bloody mutt out this raid, lest it turn into a complete debacle. The last thing Draco needs is that mangy fool gifting our operation with his particular brand of heroics that leave more people dead than alive.” The man threw Remus another look that clearly said ‘what in the hell were you thinking, you damned idiot?!’ Remus didn’t bother to correct him on the fact that he hadn’t told Sirius, the house had. That was a conversation for another day… or year.

“Sirius isn’t going to interfere,” Remus said tiredly, simultaneously rubbing a hand over his eyes and putting a hand up to stop Harry’s retort. “He’s promised.”

Snape’s snort clearly showed what he thought of Sirius’ promises, but Remus was in no mood to argue. Not now, when he was about to risk his life. Snape would have to get his verbal jollies somewhere else, because he wasn’t rising to the bait tonight.

“Harry,” Remus said, turning to the teen. “Please, you have to stay here. There is no place for you in this raid—you’ve already given us all that you can. You’ve helped Mr. Malfoy as much as you can, and you must be content with that knowledge. There is nothing more that you can do and this raid, success or failure, lies in our hands, not yours. Running along with us half-cocked would only be a distraction, a potentially fatal one. Stay here. Keep an eye on Sirius. Prepare for injuries. Do what you must—but do not attempt to come with us. Are we clear?”

Harry’s were widened, shocked by the sheer authority emanating from the werewolf. It was times like these when he was reminded that Remus had ruled over his classrooms with a dictatorial (yet somehow kind) power that made it hard, nearly impossible even, to disobey him. Harry had never listened to another’s advice the way he listened to Remus’—not even when it came to Sirius or Professor Dumbledore. He found himself nodding mutely, resigned to the fact that he would be staying.

Severus checked the time in a practiced, bored, gesture perhaps a moment before Tonks came crashing into the room. Literally. Rolling his eyes towards the heavens in despair, the Potion’s Master diligently ignored the woman’s inelegant (to say the least) entrance.

“We’re to leave soon,” he snapped out coldly. “You might want to get yourself together.”

Bill stepped closer to Severus, holding his hand out in feigned nonchalance. The Potion’s Master stared down at it as if Bill was trying to offer him a poisonous snake, but eventually clasped it harshly; grimacing as if touching the red-head was actually causing him pain. Well, he’d get over it eventually; especially once Bill worked his impervious Weasley charm on the snarky man.

Staring at Severus’ rather disgusted grimace, he thought, 'I’ll get him, alright. Just a matter of time, old boy, just a matter of time.' If Severus didn’t find out and kill him first, that is.

He glanced over to Tonks, who was holding on to Severus’ other hand, and to Remus, who was clasping the man’s right shoulder in preparation for the Apparation. Harry stood not far away, watching them with something akin to longing. Did the boy really want to be part of Order operations that badly? Or was it merely that he wanted to be a part of this particular raid that badly? Bill would be willing to bet on the former.

Snape looked rather uncomfortable, obviously unused to having so many people touching him at once. He cleared his throat after a moment. “Is everyone ready? If you haven’t got a good grip, I’m not going to waste time on finding your scattered pieces,” he threatened.

Everyone let out an affirmative, and Harry nodded once, silently wishing them all luck. Then, they were gone.


If normal Apparation was similar to being pushed through a tube, this was pure crushing torture. The pressure alone was nearly unbearable, especially on the top of his head. Severus clenched his eyes shut, holding on to consciousness as he transported the others. It was nearly impossible to Apparate a group of such volatile magical components (a Dark Wizard, a Were, a Metamorphmagus, and a powerful Curse-breaker), but he knew he could make it. If he just held on a moment longer… just a bit.

They slammed into the ground with force, letting go of each other almost immediately. It was fortunate that the forest ground was particularly mossy, at least in this clearing. Grand oaks rose over the group in a way that would have been majestic, if the trees were remotely normal. Instead, knarled, knotted roots rose from the ground in disturbing patterns, some of which resembled barky intestines. The trunks and limbs were twisted in such a way that many appeared to be humans suffering various forms of physical torture. Some trees were completely devoid of leaf, while others grew odd, vine-like foliage down to their roots.

Such was the consequence of an unnatural amount of dark magic running amok in a forest for hundreds of years.

Tonks was up first, groaning and clutching her aching head. Apparation had never given her a headache before. She hoped she hadn’t splinched a piece of her brain or something.

“I thought you said you could Apparate us,” she cried, staring at Severus with accusing eyes while the others stared at their surroundings with a wary, watchful look.

“I did,” Severus gritted out, panting. “I didn’t say it would be as comfortable as a normal Side-Along. No wonder you were so abysmal in Potions, you never pay attention.” He was standing, shaking off the odd aches of such a taxing action.

“Are you alright?” He turned, noticing Weasley was approaching him with a look close to concern.

“Fine,” he snapped out, deftly avoiding the other man’s reaching hand. Pulling out his wand, he let out a quick, commanding “Point Me.” The light began to lead west and he followed it, hardly noticing the others beside him. After a couple of moments, he glanced at them, realizing with something akin to approval that they all had their wands at the ready. Good. At least they wouldn’t die so easily.

“Why is it that we’re using a Point Me spell instead of the map, again?” Bill muttered as the little spark of light began to weave around the deadly looking forest.

“If you’d been paying attention, you would know the answer to that, now wouldn’t you?” Why in hell did Weasley have to ask him so many damn questions as if he didn’t already know the answers? Weasley was a curse breaker, for Merlin’s sake! This was becoming particularly unnerving… did the man just like to hear him speak?

Severus frowned. He knew that couldn’t be it.

“It’s because of the spells used to make the map versus the wild, not to mention Dark, natural magic in the forest. The spells would begin to unweave and the map would be completely destroyed in a couple of minutes. We’re not even sure how long the map will hold up in the Manor—activating it here would be, well, rather stupid,” Remus explained in a hushed tone, eyes roving quickly over his surroundings. More than the others, he had to stay aware. Due to his own Dark creature, he would be able to identify another one far before anyone else. For tonight, at least, he was a detector of sorts.

“Wait.” Everyone stopped, first looking to see if anything had alerted the Potion Master’s attention, if something was approaching. When realizing there
was no immediate threat, they relaxed and noticed the man was pulling out several small bottles of liquid. Potions.

He handed one to each of them, and Tonks took time to examine the small vile. The container was small, barely a teaspoons worth, really. The contents, while obviously liquid, shined like spun gold. She lifted it up slightly, staring at it with a stupefied expression. It was, after all, rather pretty.
But what was it supposed to do?

“Is this what I think it is,” she heard Remus whisper in awe. “Felix Felicis?”

Her (currently dark) eyes bulged. Felix Felicis, more a legend that a potion, was one of the most elusive substances in the world. Almost guaranteeing the victory to anyone who drinks a mere drop of Felix Felicis, the potion was heavily monitored by all Ministries of Magic and kept from the general public. Anyone found distributing (or making) it unauthorized earned a cell in Azkaban—forever. In the wrong hands, the potion was lethal (or just damn unfair): criminals would be able to get away with nearly any crime, deaths that shouldn’t have happened would occur seamlessly, and worst of all, quidditch games would be utterly pointless. Potion Masters that could make literal bottled luck were numbered—Tonks had a sudden, deep respect for the skills of one Severus Snape, as well as an instant relief that he was on their side. She envisioned a world in which Death Eaters had an endless supply of Felix Felicis and shuddered.

Severus noted, with a bit of unease, that the Lupin and Tonks were staring at him as if he’d made Christmas come early while Bill was giving him a look that might have been a cross between a giddy schoolboy and a leer, but he knew that couldn’t be it.

No one looked at him like that.

'Severus, old boy,' he thought with an eyeroll, 'far too many death-defying experiences have addled your brain. You should leave that mess to the
Gryffindors.' And yet here he was…

“That amount of Felix Felicis should last for approximately eighteen hours. Do not waste it. Drink it only at the first sign of trouble. Not now,” he snapped, sparing a glance at Weasley, who had already taken off the stopper.

“But why do we have to wait,” Weasley nearly whined. “It’s not as if we’re going to be here for eighteen hours.”

“We don’t know what could happen, but if you feel comfortable jeopardizing the chances of your already dubious survival, then please. Drink it,” he hissed out, satisfied when the other man put the stopper back and placed the potion in his pocket.

They continued on for several more minutes, following the small light of Severus’ spell. Bill was beginning to think this mission was becoming a bit of a letdown. Nothing had even happened yet (this was all thought in a whine) and it looked like he wouldn’t even get to use his dose of Luck Potion. He wondered if Severus would let him keep it anyway… glancing at the dour man, who gave him a deadly look in return, he realized that was probably a long shot.

“We’re almost through the forest,” Severus spoke quietly.

“And not a DarCre (1) in sight,” Tonks crowed, rising a fist in the air. Those words, unfortunately, would prove to be spoken too soon. A moment later, Remus (who had been utterly quiet and focused on detecting anything dangerous that might be moving in the forest) suddenly froze, his head snapping unnaturally fast to the west of them. Everyone else stopped moving and there was complete silence for a moment. Then…

“What do you smell?” That was Severus, his wand already pointed in the direction Remus was facing and about twenty spells in his mind (the man was far to advanced to have to say most of his spellwork).

Remus sniffed once, his amber eyes sharp. “Spiders. Two or three of them, I think. Big… but not Acromantulas.”

“And they can’t be avoided,” asked Tonks, wand at the ready. Using Remus as a guide, they’d been able to avoid many creatures—this shouldn’t be any different. Right?

“No,” Remus replied grimly. “They’ve smelt us. If we run, we risk them following us out of the forest and alerting the Death Eaters of our presence.”
“Potions, now.” Quickly obeying the dark-haired man, the others pulled out their vials and downed the small amount in one dose, shuddering at the feeling of the warm trickle down their throats which finally stopped and rested at the bottom of their stomach, where it began burning like a small furnace. Severus fought the cloud in his mind that told him he was unbeatable, all-powerful, that nothing could stop him. Because that just wasn’t true and thinking that way, Felix Felicis or not, would get him killed. Remus, Tonks, and Bill were fighting the overbearing feeling of overconfidence as well, having been in enough battles not to be overcome by a false sense of power. Though, it was an amazing feeling.

Then, they were able to hear an odd sound, a weird twittering that was coming closer and closer… the ground began to shudder and shake in protest. That was the only warning given to them as several beasts burst through the clearly deftly dodging trees with a swiftness that belied their size.

At least there were only three of them, so they weren’t outnumbered.

But they also weren’t spiders.

Bill cursed audibly, wondering why Remus hadn’t smelt the giant… what in the hell was it. Serpents, perhaps.. But no, right before his eyes the shapes were changing, small black beads roving around each other to form… men? It wasn’t beads though. It was very, very tiny black spiders that glimmered faintly in the dim light of the forest moved in constant patterns, making the figures of the ‘men’ seeming as if they were vibrating slightly.

He shuddered, taking a step back. What the hell?

Then, they attacked.

Severus fired off a red spell at the nearest spider-creature (still in the shape of a man), cursing when the small spiders scuttled away from what would have been the man’s midsection, creating a hole for his spell to pass through without harming them. The little buggers were fast. The only way he would get any good hits on it would be if he allowed it to get closer.

Dammit.

Remus was having similar problems as he fired off the Blade curse, which passed seamlessly through the spiders though it should have been cut in half. The creatures came closer, close enough to touch and Remus dropped into a crouch, allowing his Were instincts to take over. His eyes shined an unnatural gold as he growled threateningly at the spiders, causing them to pause for a moment in confusion.

They obviously weren’t expecting a human to growl. He used the monsters’ momentary surprise to get in a good shot, “Glacialis Letum!” (2) He watched in satisfaction as an ‘arm’ fell off, the small creatures frozen in blocks of ice and obviously dead. That was one way, at least to take care of them. His smile faded rather quickly as the spiders quickly reformed themselves into the shape of a wolf, launching itself at him.

Tonks and Bill, pairing off against one of the creatures, begin to fire off a barrage of spells, hoping one would do harm or stop the spiders. A few hit, but did no harm, sliding off the protective exoskeletons of the… whatever the hell they were. A sudden idea hit Tonks, and she quickly began to change herself, allowing her hair to recede into her scalp and making her skin appear black, metallic, and bumpy. It wasn’t perfect, but she was a near match for the creature.

Noticing something that looked so similar to itself, the malformed creature stopped, cocking its head to the side as it examined Tonks’ new form. She shuddered slightly as the creature came close enough that she could smell the odor of stale blood coming of it. It clicked madly with its spider formed jaws, obviously trying to communicate with her a moment before Bill cast a Sticking Charm on the spiders. The small creatures twittered in protest, trying to squirm away from one another, but were unable to change shape. “Cast a Sticking Hex,” Bill yelled out, hoping Remus and Severus could hear him over the sounds of the spiders clicking. “It stops them from changing shape!”

He cast a Stunning Spell a moment too late and the man shaped creature tackled Tonks. She shrieked at the feeling of dozens of stings in her arms (which she had thrown in front of her in protection) before regaining her sense and putting her foot up between her and the creature, pushing it off of her with a sickening squelch.

Severus, hearing Bill’s yell, and quickly cast a Sticking Charm on his own monster, managing to catch it with the second try. His arm stung from inadvertently allowing the spiders to get to close to him, resulting in several small bites. Which would be poisonous, knowing his luck. He also noted the sound the other one had made when Tonks kicked it and his eyes widened in understanding, quickly dodging the creature’s attempt to tackle him. The exoskeletons were slightly impervious to spells, but not to general force.

Putting all of his power behind the spell, Severus roared out a, “Wingardium Leviosa!” Two spiders shot up quickly, reaching a height of nearly forty feet in mere seconds. He paused for a moment to judge the height of the thing, before letting the creature go. It made an odd, chilling shrieking noise as it fell. He was quite unprepared for the large splatter it made when it landed close to him, coating him in smelly, bluish-black (thankfully not acidic) gunk.

Remus had reacted to Bill’s yell last, and so his creature was stuck in the form of a half wolf, half human creature (much more disturbing that any werewolf he’d ever seen) with sharp, deadly scythe-like hands. He already bore shallows marks as testament to how sharp those hands were. He’d hit it with a couple more Glacier Deaths, causing it to become a bit small and quite a bit slower then it had been before. It swiped at him again and he jumped out of the way at the last moment, flinching at the feel of vile smelling liquid splashing on his left side. He paused for a moment, as he stared at the remains of Severus’ ‘opponent’. So, that was another, perhaps more effect way to kill them.

He tossed an almost lazy, “Reducto,” as the creature lashed out at him once more, noting that the powerful haze of the Felix Felicis was returning. He watched as he creature was demolished after crashing into a tree, the still living spiders sticking to their dead brothers and being slowly smothered as the gunk from the dead spiders spread over them. The sight wouldn’t have made him happy under normal circumstances, but an odd smirk found its way onto his features.

Meanwhile, Bill and Tonks cast several Bludgeoning curses on the last of the spider-creatures, grimacing at the smell and disgusting sounds it made as it was, for lack of better word, squished. “Gross,” Tonks whined, her skin already turning to its normal pale shade and soft blond hair falling to her shoulders. She glanced around; happy to see that everyone had came out of the fight hardly worse for wear, if one didn’t count the smell, of course. Then she saw Remus, eyes shining with preternatural strength and with an odd, half-smirk on his lips and flushed lightly. The man was really too cute.

She flushed darker as he looked her up and down, checking for injuries. If only he were checking her for something else.

“Very. Ugh, I’m going to have to burn these robes,” Bill muttered in annoyance, aggravated at the way his fingers were sticking to one another from the creature’ blood. He looked to Severus and choked back a laugh, not wanting to be murdered.

The man looked, for lack of a better term, adorable.

He was completely covered with the dark-blue stuff, even having thin, odd streaks across his face. Some had even gotten in his hair, sweeping it away from his face and spiking the shorter strands up weirdly. Severus noted him looking and muttered a quick, “Animus Scourgify,” giving him a nasty
glare.

The spell didn’t get rid of all of it, and it certainly didn’t take all of the smell away, but it did clean him up a bit. The others followed his example, cleaning themselves the best they could.

“Was it just me, or was that easier then it should have been,” Bill asked tentatively.

“The Felix Felicis must have helped. Russian Tar-Spiders are usually much more difficult to kill,” Remus said, also a bit unnerved at how quickly the creatures had been defeated. (3)

Bill’s eyes widened. That’s what those things had been? Tar-Spiders were known to be as deadly as Chimeras and twice as hard to kill. “Hell.”

“Point Me.” They all started slightly the sound of Severus calling out his spell once more, realizing that the raid had only really began. They had yet to reach Malfoy Manor and there was still so much to be done…

Falling behind the Potion’s Master, the followed along silently for a couple of more minutes, the euphoria of wining against the Tar-Spiders fading.

Yes, there was still a long ways to go, still many ways to die.

The trees were becoming thinner and thinner, the light of the moon falling brighter upon them. Finally, they came against the edge of the forest, eyes roving across the large field to Malfoy Manor. Though it was more of a fortress than any type of manor Bill had ever seen. As he squinted, he could make out the outlines of two or three figures standing guard. Not too many.

Good.

“Disillusionment Charm now, I suppose,” Remus muttered quietly to Severus.

“And well have to crawl, or else they’ll notice something is up before we get there,” Tonks replied.

Severus nodded to both of them, releasing a sigh in an uncommon show of emotion. He was finally here; finally ready to save his godson. He only hoped that Draco had managed to stay alive—and sane. He was ready to fight, but not ready to see what condition the boy he’d always considered to be his son was in. The last time he’d seen him was bad enough, but after prolonged time with the Dark Lord himself…

Severus trembled for a moment. He came back to himself as he heard Weasley ask, “Severus, are you alright?” He chose not to respond, not wanting to look back into the other man’s blue eyes. A man he was probably leading to his death. No, he wasn’t alright.

“Prepare yourselves,” Severus muttered grimly, raising his wand to Disillusion himself.

TBC

1) DarCre—Auror slang for Dark Creature.

2) Glacialis Letum— Known as the Glacier Death spell, literally means ‘frozen death.’ Used to freeze opponents to death. This is a self-created spell, so I apologize for the terrible Latin.

3) Russian Tar-Spiders—This creature is my own creation, so don’t expect to find it in any Harry Potter reference source.
Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers!
thrnbrooke—As always, I’m supremely grateful for your reviews. It’s great to know that someone is consistently reading every chapter and enjoying it. I can’t thank you enough, really. As for Sirius helping, well I think that this chapter kind of answers that question ;). Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!

Vittani—Yes, I believe that Sirius would have been majorly disturbed if he’d overheard that conversation. But at the same time, he might not have gotten it because he wouldn’t have been able to believe that someone was hitting on Severus. He would have been all like ‘I must have just heard that wrong’ lol.

Harry and Sirius’ chat was one of my most enjoyable scenes to date. It was just so fun to write! Harry is cluelessly adorable and Sirius is just, well—Sirius, hehe. I see him as one of those uber-protective boyfriends who would want to hover over Remus protectively (nevermind the fact that his magic is still recovering). Hope you like this chapter.

Lisa—Glad you liked that chapter, truly. I hope that you like the rescue as well!