Torn - Repost

Just a note first. I am having some RL issues,(Not related to perscription medication) so I may not be posting regularly. The main problem is an illness in the family. If things go badly I will be out of state for a week or more. The more minor problem is everything that has been happening is taking a toll on my writing. I may have to take a short break to get my head together.

TITLE: Torn
AUTHOR: Ravenkiss
STATUS/PART: 16/?
EMAIL: Ravenkiss2000@yahoo.com
RATING: NC17
PAIRING: SS/RL, SS/RH
SPOILERS: OOP
WARNINGS: AU, M/M Slash, Rape, Violence
DISCLAIMER: Not mine, no money made.
SUMMARY: Some help is needed to keep Severus and his child safe.
AUTHOR\'S NOTES: Dumbledore finds out that he is not quite as clever as he thought.
Beta: Sylvadin


Part - 16

Walking down the long corridor towards the Headmaster\'s office, Hermione Granger glanced around to make sure that she and Ron were alone. \"Why do you think that Headmaster Dumbledore would want to see us now, since he has been avoiding us for over a month?\"


\"Do you think something has happened to Harry?\" asked Ron nervously.
\"I don\'t know. All of the professors have been avoiding talking to us for weeks.\" Hermione frowned. \"Maybe they think we knew Harry was the one doing all those horrible things to Professor Snape?\"

\"They certainly waited long enough to ask. But we didn\'t know, not really.\" Ron sighed. \"Maybe we should have told Dumbledore what we suspected. Especially when a powerful rot spell like the one you found in that book in the Restricted Section was used on the tree limb that nearly got Snape killed.\"


\"I know. I feel like I\'m responsible for what Harry did, Ron. I taught him that spell, and a lot of others besides.\" Hermione stopped as they reached the gargoyle and took a deep breath to steady herself. \"Strawberry Shortcake,\" she said softly. The stone creature moved aside to reveal the stairs to the Headmaster\'s office. Silently the pair mounted the stairs, which carried them upward towards the doorway.

At the top of the stairs, Ron took Hermione\'s hand, and gently squeezed it. She smiled at him and returned the gentle pressure. \"It\'s not your fault Hermione. Neither of us knew how sick Harry was. Even if we had said something, who would have believed us? There was not anything that you or I could have done.\" Ron said wrapping his arm around her shoulder. \"We\'re in this together, Mione, no matter what happens,\" Ron whispered.



\"Together,\" she assured, then with a deep breath reached out to knock on the door. Both of the teenagers jumped as it opened before she actually touched it. Dumbledore greeted them with a slightly forced smile on his face. His eyes did not have their usual sparkle. That twinkle had been absent from his eyes since Harry had been taken away to St. Mungo\'s.

\"Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, please come in. We have been expecting you.\" The Headmaster ushered the pair into his office where they found out what he meant by \'we\'. Remus Lupin, Hagrid, Professor McGonagall and the diminutive Professor Flitwick were already seated in chairs around the room, watching them expectantly.


The older wizard saw the nervous looks on the faces of the students. \"First, allow me to assure you that you are not in any sort of trouble,\" said Dumbledore gently at the sight of the two extremely apprehensive teens. \"Please have a seat and I shall explain why all of you are here.\"

Dumbledore looked around his office at the anxious faces with a feeling of dread. It had been a hard decision but he and Remus knew that the threat of magical traps set by Harry for Severus was dangerous enough to bring in more help. That and the fact that Dumbledore had found seven, not five traps. Worse, not all of the items had been set specifically for Severus, meaning that anyone who came near would be in danger.


Albus brought in McGonagall and Flitwick since they were the most powerful of the professors and both were experienced with the types of spells used to create such traps. Besides, Hogwarts was a massive place, and it was almost impossible for two people to search it thoroughly.


Remus asked that Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley be allowed to attend because, even though he had become closed off and withdrawn at the end, they still knew Harry Potter better than anyone else in the school. Perhaps they would have some insight about what the deluded young man would do.


The Defense teacher had not been exactly enthusiastic about bringing his rival into the search, but Albus had decided that Hagrid should be included because of his feelings for Severus, and the fact that the child might be his. To leave him in the dark would be wrong, and possibly dangerous.


\"I have asked you here today to speak of a most grave matter,\" announced Dumbledore as he stood before the small group. His words were directed at those who were unfamiliar with the situation. \"I believe you all know by now that it was Harry Potter that was playing those horrible pranks on Professor Snape.\"


\"Yes,\" McGonagall answered for the group as others nodded in agreement.


\"I have discovered that before he was sent to St. Mungo\'s, Harry set a number of dangerous traps around the school in order to harm Professor Snape,\" said Albus with a shake of his head. \"Most of the traps that I have already disarmed were geared directly to Severus\' magical signature. Which is extremely difficult to do even for a fully trained wizard. Anyone else in the castle could touch all but two of them and nothing would happen.\"


\"What did you find,\" asked Remus, sitting forward in his chair. Everyone in the room seemed to lean forward slightly in nervous anticipation.


\"You know of the jar of Ashwinder Venom in Severus\' supply cabinet, Remus. In addition, I found three books and a quill in Severus\' office that had been transformed into portkeys. Any of them would have transported him into the middle of the Forbidden Forest without his wand. There was a ladle in his laboratory that was enchanted so that the handle would have turned into a razor sharp blade and stabbed him in the stomach,\" reported Albus as Hagrid cringed and a hand went to his own slightly protruding midsection. \"One of the unspecific pieces was the pointer in the Potions classroom, that
had been hollowed out and a capsule of acid inserted in the handle. If anyone had touched it, the capsule would have exploded. The person unlucky enough to use it would likely lose some fingers, if not their entire hand. It is a good thing neither Professor Vector or I ever thought to use it while substituting for Severus.\"


\"Why does Harry want ter hurt the baby?\" asked Hagrid. The idea of anyone wishing to harm anyone, let alone an innocent child was completely beyond him.


\"Who can fathom the logic of an insane mind?\" said Dumbledore sadly. \"The Harry Potter that we all know and love would never dream of doing these horrible things. But the person in that room at St. Mungo\'s is no longer that dear young man.\"


After a long uncomfortable silence Hermione Granger cleared her throat. \"Headmaster, may I ask you a question?\"

\"Of course Miss Granger.\"


\"You told the papers that Professor Snape\'s baby belongs to either Professor Lupin or Professor Hagrid. I wanted to know if that was true, or if the child is Harry\'s?\"


\"Mione!\" snapped Ron with a look of abject horror while Dumbledore\'s face went almost as white as his beard. Remus and Hagrid choked in tandem.


\"It is all right, Mr. Weasley. Though it could have been done with a little more tact, Miss Granger is voicing the question that we all have,\" admitted McGonagall as she turned towards Dumbledore. \"The story you came up with fooled the public and the majority of the students, but not those of us that are closer to the situation.\"

\"Albus, shall we be frank? If Hagrid had intended to breed those manticores, he would have been telling us about it for weeks before hand,\" said Flitwick with a sympathetic look towards the half-giant. \"We have held our tongues for Severus\' sake, and would have continued to do so, but this situation is a danger to everyone at Hogwarts. Under the circumstances, I believe that the rest of the staff should be consulted since at least
some of the traps could effect anyone in the school. We all need to know exactly what we are dealing with.\"

Dumbledore was glad that Severus was sleeping in the infirmary as he considered what to do. They were correct. This situation was a danger to the entire school. He had not wished to inform anyone else for Severus\' sake, but now there really was no choice. \"My office will not accommodate everyone. We should adjourn to the staff room.\" He walked to the floo to call the rest of the staff.


About twenty minutes later, the entire staff of Hogwarts, with the exception of Madame Pomfrey and, of course, Severus were in the staff room and had taken their seats. Most seemed concerned. Filch just frowned. With a feeling of resignation and more than a little sadness, Dumbledore took a deep breath and gave a quick reassertion of the complete situation to the staff, Granger, and Weasley.

\"Deputy Headmistress McGonagall has informed me that most of you have some
suspicion about how and by whom Severus was impregnated,\" the Headmaster
continued. \"It is not exactly as some of you seem to believe. Sadly it is true that it was Harry Potter that caused the pregnancy. He could not accept the death of his godfather Sirius Black. With that on his conscience and all of the trauma and death of the war, his mind split in two. One half was Harry Potter, who was frightened by what was happening. The other half manifested itself as Sirius Black, with a deep hatred of Severus Snape. As most of you surmised, Harry was responsible for the brutal pranks played on Severus. The pregnancy was the final prank. The ultimate insult.\"

\"Poor child,\" whispered McGonagall. No one was sure whether she meant Harry or Severus.

\"Harry used the *Pilus Conception potion, which is made to take genetic material from hair,\" Dumbledore continued. \"No hairs from either Harry, or Sirius Black were found in the potion. The only hairs in it were those of Hagrid and Remus. People that he believed would be completely unacceptable as the father of a Slytherin\'s child. Fortunately, since Voldemort\'s demise, the remaining Slytherin students are more accepting of diversity than they might once have been.\"


\"Sir, do you believe that Professor Snape\'s heritage may cause any problems with the pregnancy?\" asked Hermione, completely disrupting Dumbledore\'s train of thought.


\"Hermione, what do you know of Professor Snape\'s heritage?\" asked Remus, obviously surprised.


\"We, uh, well, we know that he has fey blood,\" blurted Ron.

The young woman looked the werewolf in the eye. \"During the war, Professor Snape\'s behavior was sometimes rather suspicious. We, Harry, Ron and I did some checking. We managed to see his ministry and Hogwarts records.\" Managed, with the help of Arthur Weasley, who had some suspicions himself about Snape. \"They said that Professor Snape had the blood of the High Elves from his mother\'s family.\"


\"We all know that Miss Granger. It is not a crime. Madam Hooch and I also have High Elf blood,\" noted Flitwick.


\"I know sir. But with the other factors involved a werewolf or someone of Hagrid\'s, uh, ethnic origin as the other parent, Professor Snape\'s baby might be adversely affected. I know that the High Elves are the humanoid ancestors of centaurs, harpies, and other such creatures. They have been breeding with other species for so long that they are almost extinct. Because the High Elves are shape shifters, their genetics are very unstable.\"

\"And they are related to House Elves!\" added Ron not wanting to be left out.


\"They are, but in the same way that tigers are related to domestic cats.\" Hermione shook her head. \"What we need to worry about is the instability of his genetics.\"


\"Now Miss Granger, I do not believe that we need to be overly concerned,\" assured Dumbledore. \"Most pure or even half-muggle wizards have some High Elf blood, even if it is five or more generations back, myself included.\"


\"Yes, but well, I was reading a book, \'The Myth of Purity: Inter Species Breeding in the Wizarding World\'. It said that High Elf blood can cause lethal mutation, and is part of the reason that most of the Pure Blood wizard families only have one child. And if the magic of the pregnancy causes the fey blood to awaken...\"


\"Miss Granger, I have read that same book, as well as several others,\" the Headmaster informed her, trying very hard to keep the irritation from his voice. He was well aware of the situation. \"I have also spoken to a number of very learned Mediwizards and they all assured me that if there were such a problem, that the child would already have been miscarried. As it happens the child\'s magic and life force are very powerful.\"


\"But, Professor Snape is...\"


\"Miss Granger, I believe that Professor Snape\'s genetics are the least of our problems,\" noted McGonagall. \"What would be more helpful to us is if you have any insight as to any enchantments that Mr. Potter might have used to create the traps?\"


\"We found a lot of spells in the restricted section during the war, trying to find a way to stop Voldemort,\" admitted Ron.


\"We researched over a dozen lethal spells that could be geared to a persons magical signature. Harry could easily cast several that would explode if a certain person used magic within two meters of it. That was how we got Pettigrew,\" she added. \"We also studied poisons, specifically to find one that was effective against snakes to cripple Nagini,\" said Hermione. \"We learned a lot about traps and Harry was very good at creating portkeys.\"


\"He made several portkeys that we used to go to Hogsmeade,\" Ron told them. \"He even managed to make one that would chose from several locations if there were people within twenty meters.\"


\"Good Lord,\" gasped Flitwick, \"it took me five years to master that skill!\"


\"No matter his present difficulty, Harry is an extremely powerful wizard,\" confirmed Dumbledore.


\"Sir,\" interrupted Hermione. \"Harry was also very good at timed enchantments, where the spell remains dormant for weeks or months. That magic is extremely difficult to detect.\"

\"That is very grave news,\" the Headmaster sighed sadly. At that moment he felt all of his hundred and fifty years. \"Remus, I would like for you and Miss Granger to check out Severus\' rooms. Filius, Minerva, if you would take the Slytherin dormitories? I will go through the Great Hall, Madame Hooch....\"


\"Albus,\" Remus took a deep breath, \"perhaps we should make sure that one of us is with Severus at all times until we are sure that all of the traps have been found. Under the circumstances, I do not believe that he will raise more than a token objection. I know that he is very concerned for the safety of the baby.\"


\"Maybe Remus is right, Sir,\" said Hagrid. \"Sev\'rus is real weak, if somethin\' happened he couldn\' do nothin\' ter stop it.\"


\"We will work out a schedule so that Severus has someone with him at all times until we are certain that we have found all of the traps,\" Dumbledore sighed. He felt horrible, as if he were somehow betraying Severus, even thought he knew in his heart that there was really no choice.


\"Since I can\' help search, maybe I could go ter the infirm\'ry? I can sit with Sev\'rus so he won\' be alone when he wakes up.\"


\'That is a very good idea Hagrid,\" said the Headmaster.


\"Perhaps not Albus. If anything happened, what could Hagrid do? He has no skill in magical defense,\" countered Remus.


\"Lots o\' curses got no effect on me,\" Hagrid actually glared at Remus. Hermione gave them a surprised look and Ron\'s jaw dropped at the obvious animosity between the older Gryffindors. \"I can cover Sev\'rus before yeh can get ter yer wand.\"


\"Gentlemen, we need to concentrate on what is best for Severus and the child,\" Albus said in a slightly louder than necessary voice. He was aware that there was some tension between them because of their love for Severus. He only hoped that they could find a way to settle their differences without fisticuffs.


\"Perhaps it would be better if Severus left the school temporarily?\" suggested Madame Pince.


Both Remus and Hagrid were about to voice their objections to sending Severus away from Hogwarts when Professor Binn\'s ghost spoke up. \"That would probably not be a very good idea.\" His fellow staff members looked at him in surprise. \"I take it none of you have seen the Daily Profit this morning? The Dark Mark was seen over a muggle house in Wales. The family of a muggle-born Ministry wizard was killed.\"

\"There have been a number of Death Eater sightings in the past few days,\" confirmed Madame Sprout nervously. \"That horrible man, Mcnair, who vowed that he would drink Severus\' blood,\" the portly woman shuddered with disgust, \"has even been sighted here in Scotland.\"

\"I have read the reports,\" said Dumbledore softly. \"And I agree, even under these circumstances, it would be better if Severus stayed here at Hogwarts. The only place outside of these grounds that he would be truly safe is in St. Mungo\'s with the wards that were put in place to protect Harry.\" To protect Harry, and to keep him imprisoned. \"Unfortunately, I believe that it would be very detrimental for Severus\' mental health to be in such close proximity to the one that did this to him.\"

\"Albus, if that is settled, perhaps Hermione and I should check out the infirmary before we go to Severus\' chambers. We do not know where Harry put all the traps. If he did something to any of Poppy\'s potions or instruments...\"


\"God Lord, I should have thought of that,\" Albus gasped, angry at himself that he had not thought of the possibility. He should have. \"Yes, we will go there at once. Hagrid can stay with Severus, make sure that he does not get out of bed, until the infirmary has been completely tested.\"

\"You go, Albus. I will divide the rest of the staff into search parties,\" volunteered McGonagall. Dumbledore nodded as he, Remus, Hagrid, Ron and Hermione made their way to the door.


Tbc

*Pilus - hair.