Forsaken
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
50
Views:
2,148
Reviews:
4
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
50
Views:
2,148
Reviews:
4
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Manipulations and Mourning
Chapter 16- Manipulations and Mourning
Severus apparated into the receiving chamber, dressed in his cloak and handkerchief, and bowed low before the Dark Lord.
“That was very fast, Severus,” said Voldemort. “I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow at the earliest.”
“I was eager to complete the project for you, my lord,” said Severus meekly. Voldemort slowly traced a finger around his lips, hissing softly at the serpent near his feet. Severus held himself perfectly still as Nagini slithered slowly towards him, flicking her tongue out mere inches from his face. He couldn’t help but shudder as the snake bared her fangs, venom dripping to the floor. Voldemort hissed again, calling Nagini back to him.
“Go give the girl the potion,” said Voldemort quietly. “And then get out of my sight. I am in no mood for visitors today.”
“Yes, my lord,” murmured Severus quickly. He rose and pulled open the heavy door leading down the hallway. It closed heavily behind him as he strode towards Ginny’s cell. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, seeing Ginny sleeping on the floor. He knelt down beside her and gently shook her shoulder. Ginny jumped awake but relaxed slightly upon recognizing him.
“How are you doing, Miss Weasley?” whispered Severus, lowering his handkerchief.
“I’m okay,” she whispered, bowing her head and pressing her hand to her cheek to cover her tears. “I just hope Harry and Ron don’t decide to do something stupid.” Severus softly took her face in his hands, wiping them away with his thumbs.
“Don’t worry about Harry,” whispered Severus, barely moving his lips. “I am keeping a very close eye on him.” He handed her the vial from his pocket. “As for your brother, I am sure Miss Granger and your mother can handle him well enough. Your family is at Headquarters. They will be safe there.” Ginny drank a mouthful of the potion and choked slightly.
“Eugh,” she said, grimacing as she swallowed. “What’s in this stuff?”
“You don’t want to know, trust me,” murmured Severus. Ginny pinched her nose and quickly drank the rest, handing the vial back to Severus. He gave her a penetrating stare as he tapped a brick in the wall beside her. She watched as he quickly slid the brick from the wall and hollowed it out. With his wand, he carved a small rune into front of the stone so she could find it again and slid it back into place.
“Wouldn’t want you to be hiding anything,” said Severus a bit louder, pressing Harry’s note into her hand. She looked down into her hand and back up at Severus, her eyes shining in the torchlight.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you so much.” Severus stood up and disapparated from the room. Ginny quickly unrolled the parchment, alert for the sound of any footsteps as she read Harry’s note, tears running down her face.
~~+~~+~~+~~
Harry apparated to the school gates late Sunday evening. He could see two figures standing just inside the front doors as the gates opened for him. He gripped his broom tighter as he began walking up the road. He was having second thoughts about being at the castle with just McGonagall and Moody. Maybe he could talk Peeves into causing a ruckus so they wouldn’t bother him.
“Good evening, Mr. Potter,” said Minerva as Harry reached the Entrance Hall, her tone lacking any of the sympathy or kindness that it had after Albus’s funeral.
“Good evening, Professor,” replied Harry politely, nodding at Moody. “Moody.”
“Potter,” growled Moody, his blue eye swiveling rapidly in its socket. “Good to see you’re still in one piece.” Harry smiled tightly. Minerva closed the door behind him.
“The house elves will be available should you need anything,” said Minerva tersely, eyeing Harry’s thin face. “Food, for example.”
“Thank you, Professor, but I’m not hungry at the moment,” said Harry. Minerva and Moody walked back up the stairs, talking in low tones. Harry caught the words “starving” and “Death Eater” and almost drew his wand. He waited until they had been gone for several minutes before making his way down to the dungeon classroom where Severus had stored all of the Dark objects from Grimmauld Place. Once he reached the door, he pulled out a scrap of paper and drew his wand, taking down the wards that Severus had erected around the room. He cautiously opened the door and lit the torches on the wall. He sighed at the sight of several large black bags sitting in the middle of the room as he rested his broom against the wall.
“This will take forever,” he muttered. He ruffled his hair, thinking of any spells he could use to find the locket. He held out his hand and laid his wand in the middle.
“Point me locket,” he said hesitantly, unsure if the spell would do anything. He exhaled in relief as the wand spun around once and pointed to a particular bag against the wall. He stuck his wand in his back pocket and shrugged his knapsack off his shoulder. He dug around and found his dragonhide gloves. He pulled them over his hands and carefully opened the bag. He jumped back when it fell on its side, dumping some of the contents onto the floor. His eyes widened at seeing a length of gold chain. He bent down and gently took the chain between his fingers.
“Please let this be it, please let this be it,” he murmured. He took a deep breath and slowly pulled the locket clear of a set of robes. Slytherin’s mark was clearly visible on the gold casing.
“YES!” cried Harry, pumping his free hand in the air.
“There you are, Potter,” said a portrait in the corner that Harry hadn’t noticed. Harry’s head spun around.
“Oh, it’s you,” said Harry, turning back to the locket. “I’m a little busy right now.” Phineas leaned against his dusty frame and crossed his arms.
“Dumbledore would like a word with you, Potter,” said Phineas, glancing down at his nails. “Something about you being a bit snippy with Minerva last week.” Harry groaned.
“Now?” asked Harry despondently. Phineas raised his eyebrows.
“Of course,” said Phineas. “He would have come himself, but he’s currently running the Headmistress out of her office.” Harry sighed, reaching into his knapsack for a small bag that Severus had charmed for him. He dropped the locket inside, tied it shut, and removed his gloves.
“I’ll let him know you’re on your way,” said Phineas smoothly, walking out of the frame. Harry rolled his eyes as he gathered up his stuff and locked the room, using the parchment in his pocket to ward the room back. He stopped off at Severus’s old office, finding the door open slightly. He set his broom and bag just inside the door and began the long, slow walk up to the Head office.
The office door was wide open when he reached the top of the staircase. He noticed that the table of silver instruments was gone, replaced with a small circular table with a decorative lamp.
“Sit down, Harry,” said Albus’s portrait, waving his hand at the chair before the desk. Harry sat, his stomach plummeting despite knowing that Dumbledore couldn’t really do anything to him at this point.
“Minerva tells me you were quite firm with her when she visited you and Severus,” said Albus sternly, looking over the top of his glasses at Harry’s bent head, his lips twitching. Harry couldn’t contain himself.
“She wouldn’t let me make the damn potion!” cried Harry, slamming his fist on the arm of the chair. “He told me to brew him some Blood replenisher. And then, she goes in there and flat out refuses to heal him. When I finally convinced her to do something so he wouldn’t die, she mutters the whole time about how she’s doing him a favor, and that he brought this on himself. I would’ve kicked her out of the house if I didn’t think Professor Snape would have killed me and buried me in his herb garden.” He tried to say more, but he was shaking so hard in fury he couldn’t speak. He glanced up at the portrait, his jaw dropping at the figure’s shoulders shaking in suppressed laughter.
“Did say something funny?” growled Harry, grabbing the arms of the chair tightly. Albus held up his hands.
“No, my dear boy,” said Albus, his expression growing more serious. “Nothing that you said was funny. It’s just that I find it incredibly amusing that of all the times for you and Severus to come to an understanding of one another, it happens after I am unable to enjoy it.” Harry slid down in the chair, extending his legs and crossing his ankles.
“He’s so - different,” said Harry thoughtfully. “All this time, I thought I had him figured out. He was the horrible black bat who was always trying to get me in trouble. Now - it’s like I don’t even know who he is anymore.”
“Unfortunately, you’ve never had the opportunity to meet the Severus Snape I mentored for the last twenty or so years” said Albus. “It was always difficult for him to keep his promise to your mother but maintain his Death Eater persona. She wanted him to look after you along with Sirius if something should happen to her and your father. I think she was always a little concerned that Sirius would allow you to get away with anything. She knew Severus would be a good balance to your godfather, even if they couldn’t stand to be in the same room with each other.” Harry absently rubbed his hand across his chest.
“I’m sure you heard the argument he had with Remus,” said Harry. Albus nodded. Harry looked out the window, seeing the tops of the Quidditch hoops.
“He basically told me that Sirius would hate the fact that I’m living with him,” said Harry sadly, his heart twisting painfully in his chest. “But he - he understands things. I don’t have to explain things all the time or worry about if he’s going to freak out if I have some kind of Voldemort episode.”
“Harry, you cannot live both in the past and in the present,” said Albus. “If you do, you will always be unhappy. Your parents and Sirius would want you to be happy and safe. You are the only one that can decide where both of those conditions are satisfied.”
“That’s what Professor Snape said,” sighed Harry. He glanced up at the portrait. “So - are you mad at me for yelling at McGonagall?”
“Professor McGonagall, Harry,” corrected Albus, “and no, I’m not. In fact, I might have done a little yelling at her myself. She’s a very stubborn woman. It will take her a while to forgive me for dying in the manner that I did.” Harry smiled sadly.
“A lot of us are working hard to forgive you for that,” said Harry. “But I need to talk to you about these Horcrux things. The locket we found -“
“-was a fake,” finished Albus, his tone a bit hesitant. “Regulus Black replaced the Horcrux with the one we retrieved. I assumed he had destroyed it before replacing it.” Harry stood up slowly.
“You knew?” shouted Harry. “YOU KNEW?” He let out an inarticulate scream and threw his arms up, pacing the floor furiously.
“I cannot believe this!” he muttered. Albus watched silently as Harry muttered angrily up and down the length of the room. After a few minutes, Harry spun around and sat back down in the chair.
“Why?” asked Harry tightly, trying not to yell.
“So you would know what you are up against,” said Albus quietly.
“Oh, so I would know what I’m up against,” repeated Harry sarcastically. “Did you ever stop to think that letting me watch you wave your wand around would not help me find the other Horcruxes on my own? How am I supposed to find the cup -“
“Hufflepuff’s chalice is currently locked in my vault at Gringott’s,” interrupted Albus. “I took care of it last winter break. You are welcome to move it if you would like. I have granted you and Severus vault access.”
“I don’t believe this,” whispered Harry, putting his head in his hands. “I don’t fucking believe this.”
“I see Severus’s bad language has rubbed off on you,” said Albus disapprovingly. Harry scoffed.
“I think we have more important issues than my language,” said Harry icily. “Perhaps we can discuss how you lied to me and manipulated me. I think that is definitely more important than my bloody language!”
“Harry, I am sorry,” said the portrait. “It was necessary.”
“No, it was not,” said Harry sharply. “All of your lying to me was never necessary. It was convenient. Those are two completely different things. Now, I want the entire truth about this last Horcrux and I want it now.” The figure in the portrait removed his glasses and wiped them on his robes
“I do not have much information for you,” said Albus quietly, replacing his spectacles. “The object belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw. It was a scepter - a very rare and powerful magical magnifier. The last known owner was a woman named Ava Callahan, but I was unable to locate anyone who would have known anything about either her or the scepter.” Harry shuffled the papers on Minerva’s desk and found a blank sheet of parchment and a quill. He jotted down the woman’s name and a few notes for himself. He waved the parchment through the air to dry the ink, glaring up at the portrait.
“Professor Snape is going to be pissed at you,” said Harry bitterly as he put the note in his pocket. “Again.”
“I know, Harry,” said the portrait sadly. “I know.” Without another word, Harry stormed out of the room and down the spiral staircase, almost running straight into Minerva. He barely paused to apologize before walking back down to the dungeons. He barricaded himself in Severus’s old office, sitting behind the desk and propping his feet up.
He almost felt ill thinking about all of the time he had spent with the old Headmaster. He had lied to him and Snape for an entire year. It would have been so much easier to just tell them that the other Horcruxes had been destroyed. If Dumbledore hadn’t been so set on showing Harry everything, maybe Snape wouldn’t have had to kill him. Maybe they could have worked around the Vow.
He rubbed his face with his hands. There was nothing he could do about it now. He got up and walked over to his bag, digging out the Marauder’s Map from the front pocket. He spread it out over the desk and activated it, settling in for a long night.
Harry’s eyes popped open near dawn. He quickly straightened his glasses as he stood up, inspecting the Map. He didn’t see anyone in the Whomping Willow passage. He swiftly traced his fingers over the rest of the Map, searching each of the secret entrances carefully as he worked his way down to where the gates were drawn. He jumped at the sound of a woman screaming upstairs. He grabbed his wand and sprinted up to the Entrance Hall. Minerva was halfway down the gravel road by the time he reached the front doors. Harry ran after her, staring in confusion at something that had been tied to the gates. As he got closer, he could see the blood dripping down the gate posts.
“Remus!” cried Minerva, her hands fluttering over the gates, trying to figure out how to open them without hurting him. Harry ran at the fence beside the gate and jumped, pulling himself up and over the fence. He quickly cut Remus down, catching him and laying him on the ground. Minerva wrenched the gate open, kneeling down opposite Harry. She immediately began trying to heal the many deep cuts that criss-crossed the man’s body, but they wouldn’t close.
“These are cursed wounds,” said Minerva tearfully. “I can’t get them to mend.” Harry bent his ear over Remus’s face.
“He isn’t breathing,” said Harry frantically. He put his hand over one of the gashes, trying to stem the bleeding. He glanced up at Minerva, who was sitting back on her haunches, her wand held loosely in her hand.
“He’s been dead for an hour already,” she whispered. They jumped at the sound of a loud pop.
“Wotcher, Harry,” said Tonks brightly. “I came to see -“ the blood drained from her face at the sight of Remus.
“No,” she whispered. “Oh God, please, no.” Minerva stood and caught her as her legs collapsed under her.
“NO!” screamed Tonks. “REMUS! REMUS, WAKE UP! I LOVE YOU, GODDAMN IT! WAKE UP!” Harry looked back at the castle as Moody arrived at the bottom of the hill.
“Damn,” he muttered sadly. Harry sighed shakily, closing Remus’s eyes with his fingers.
“I’m sorry,” whispered Harry, touching his forehead to Remus’s. He stood up and stumbled towards the castle. Moody caught him by the arm, steadying him on his feet.
“Slow down, Potter,” he said gruffly. “Just take it easy.” Harry ignored him, pushing him aside. He quickened his pace, working up to a full out sprint towards Hogwarts. He tripped up the steps into the Entrance Hall and hit his knees hard on the stone floor. He scrambled to his feet and jumped down the stairs into the dungeons. He gathered up his stuff and mounted his broom. He flew back up the stairs and out the open front doors to the gates. He jumped off his broom once he had flown past Tonks and Minerva and disapparated back to Liverpool.
He didn’t know how he made it back to the house. He mechanically opened the door and walked inside, leaving a smudge of blood on the door as he shut it behind him. He stumbled into the sitting room and backed up against the wall, his face ashen pale. Severus dropped his cup of coffee and stood up sharply. He ran over and took him by the shoulders so that he wouldn’t collapse.
“He’s dead,” whispered Harry bewilderedly. Severus’s face paled. “They tied him to the gates. I - I cut him down. McGonagall couldn’t heal him. He - he wasn’t breathing. I - I - I tried - I -“ he shook his head and pushed Severus away. He walked slowly upstairs, shutting the bookcase door behind him.
Severus cleaned up his spilt coffee and walked over to the corner of the room where a large liquor cabinet stood. He removed a half-empty bottle of scotch, leaving his coffee mug on the shelf. He collapsed in his chair and unscrewed the lid of the bottle. He took a long drink, feeling the alcohol burn all the way down his throat and into his empty stomach.