Worthy

*~ Disclaimer ~* I do not own any of the characters, language, plots, or locations from Harry Potter.
J. K. Rowling, the writer, holds all rights to Harry Potter and this story is only created for pleasure, not profit.

Summary: Death, battle, pain, facing your fears, saving the world… the Wizarding World expected the Boy-Who-Lived to endure it all. But what if he can’t? Who will be there to save the boy who only wanted to be normal? … Post-HBP

Author’s Note: Not much to say. Please enjoy.


Worthy

The hours after the final battle were a blur to Snape. Everyone was swarming around and trying to get the facts on what had happened to end it. Apparently, after the charge of magic that had swept over the hill, most of the Dark Creatures had fled and it didn’t take long for the Death Eaters to follow suit. Once the Creatures were gone, the Death Eaters were struck with the disadvantage and Apparated away. Many were dead, a few were captured, and there were several missing reports.

Snape had been worried that the Aurors and the Order of the Phoenix would try to kill him before finding out the facts, but surprisingly, it had been Lupin who had taken charge and sent both Snape and Potter to the Hogwarts Hospital Wing. The werewolf had been so stunned to see Potter alive and apparently still with his soul that he hadn’t questioned Snape as to why he was there at all. His priorities had been narrowed down to Potter as he escorted the ex-Death Eater and the Boy-Who-Saved-the-Wizarding-World to Madame Pomfrey.

The boy… Potter, had passed out on the hilltop, not long after sobbing his heart out on Snape. Even unconscious, Potter had proved terribly unwieldy and Snape had had to carry him back to the castle. Other than a strange look sent his way via Pomfrey, no comment was issued. Potter was immediately placed in an isolation room in the Hospital Wing upon arrival and Snape took the time to think over what had happened.

Potter had spoken of the Dark Lord being inside of him. Considering his connection with Voldemort, it may have been possible that the Order had simply underestimated its strength and that… possession, was an unfortunate side effect. Snape recalled having been told of a prior experience with possession at the Department of Mysteries, that year Dumbledore was so terrified of having that exact thing occur. There had been many nights of discussion in which they tossed ideas back and forth over the possibility and as many nights just trying to assure Dumbledore that it wouldn’t happen.

There was also the matter of the visions that Potter was witness to. While knowing less information on those, Snape had found through the Dark Lord that he had extreme pleasure in torturing Potter through that particular part of the link. There were whole hours that Voldemort would spend in concentration with a maniacal grin afterwards… a possible explanation would be that he was engaging in his favorite pastime, tormenting Potter.

Snape frowned darkly, skulking in a seat in one of the corners of the Hospital Wing. While the resident mediwitch had currently set her concerns on Potter, she had the gall to order him to stay until she could look after him. Even worse, the werewolf had been seated nearby due to the busy witch as well. Lupin was currently gnawing on a large piece of chocolate and generally looking concerned, glancing towards Potter’s room every ten minutes. Snape scoffed at his own chunk of chocolate. How anyone could eat the sweet stuff and enjoy it was beyond him, even as a cure for Dementor exposure.

There was a scuffle coming from Potter’s room and the deceptively innocent white door was now subject of both Lupin and Snape’s stares. The door opened for a brief moment, which was plenty long enough for the two wizards to hear a young voice screaming. Pomfrey immediately closed the door and the silencing charms cut off the sound of pain abruptly. She looked around towards the two who had stood up at her entrance. With tell-tale relief, Pomfrey strode over to the both of them.

“Thank goodness, Severus. We need your help in there,” Madame Pomfrey spoke quickly and motioned them towards the door. “We’ve managed to heal what was found, but we can’t seem to calm him down. If we can’t get Mister Potter under control he may well end up injuring himself beyond our help.”

“Madame Pomfrey,” Lupin breathed. “Have you found anything about the Dementor?…”

Her face darkened and she shook her head in frustration. “Remus, all tests indicate that the Dementor did perform the Kiss on young Mister Potter… We have no idea how or why he is still in his senses, though if he doesn’t calm down, the boy very well may go mad.”

Laying aside conversation, Snape strode straight to the door and threw it open. The sight before him was striking. Restraining straps held down Potter’s arms and legs but he was wearing each of them thin. The skin was raw and red against the straps and had drawn blood around his ankles already. There were a few scratch marks on his face, presumably having been put there before they tied him down, and he was clutching the bloody sheets at his sides. His emerald eyes were flashing around the room, unfocused on his surroundings.

Potter’s screaming was still ringing through the room. His voice was hoarse at this point, but still as loud as before. Snape made his way to the bedside and took a Calming Draught from his robes, forcing it down Potter’s open mouth. The young wizard sputtered for a moment and swallowed the potion. It took a few minutes of twitching, but Potter calmed down enough to let the restraints slacken. Snape leaned over to look into Potter’s eyes that were still darting around.

“Potter,” Snape intoned. “Are you alert?” The young wizard’s eyes flicked over to Snape, but couldn’t seem to stay put. Snape sighed inwardly. “Potter!” he commanded.

That got Potter’s attention. His eyes snapped over and his breathing grew ragged. Snape reached back into his robes and drew out another potion. “Drink this, Potter,” he held the bottle over the young wizard’s mouth and slowly tipped it down his throat. Potter’s breathing evened out and Snape pulled over a nearby chair. Emerald eyes were quickly going from panicked to depressed, but Snape ignored this. “Now Potter, you are going to tell me what happened.”

Potter whispered, “He—Voldemort was inside of me.”

“Yes, you’ve already said that.” Lupin made a move by the door but Snape stopped him with a brusque wave of his hand. Snape snapped, “Explain.”

Potter whimpered, “Please—I don’t want to.”

Lupin came into the room to stand by the bed. “Severus, let Harry rest for a while. He’s been through so much…”

“Waiting will only make it harder, Lupin,” Snape nearly growled out. “It would be better for him to speak now and we need to know what happened for his recovery.”

Snape was surprised to see Potter relax at those words. Raising an inquiring eyebrow, Potter had a ghost of a smile. “Dumbledore said the same thing once,” he said. “Right after the Triwizard Tournament. Snape is right, Remus,” Potter turned to the werewolf, “it’s okay.”

Lupin reached forward and clasped Potter’s hand. He gave a nod to Snape, who had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Turning back to Potter, Snape indicated that he continue.

He took a deep breath. “You know how Voldemort tried to divide his soul?” Snape nodded. “Well, we managed to track down the objects from Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw and destroy them. The only thing we couldn’t find, or even fathom, was what represented Gryffindor.” Potter swallowed, “Supposedly, Voldemort had found some object… we still don’t know what it was… when he came to kill me, but the final battle came too soon. I had to face him and he knew it…”

Snape nodded, “I heard that he offered an ultimatum, the battle or Hogwarts.”

“Yes, he was going to attack Hogwarts if I decided not to show,” Potter’s face was troubled.

“We had to keep the school, and the children, as safe as possible,” Lupin put in. Snape mentally rolled his eyes. Of course.

“You were prepared for this fight,” Snape stated more than asked, trying to prompt Potter along.

“Yes,” Potter confirmed. “In the past year, we’ve found access to all sorts of old spells and incantations through some… neglected… departments of the Ministry. We also had an inside source into the Dark Arts where we managed to find a new, or rather unconventional, method of spellcasting.” Potter paused and took a deep breath. “We found that being a Parselmouth had more than one use in this case.”

Yes, the hissing. Snape recalled the queer sound of the snake tongue being raised in a shout. Ever since the debacle in Potter’s second year, the snake speech had unnerved him, it was far too similar to Voldemort in his opinion. He could still see Potter in the defensive crouch on the hill, muttering. “Why the defense with the Dark Lord?” he pried. “What was the spell?”

“Everything with my connection with Voldemort was through Death,” Potter continued. “We connected through the Killing Curse and through the deaths of many others.” He stopped again, this time visibly struggling with the memory of those who died. “We… decided the only way to combat a connection with destruction was to turn to a connection with creation instead.”

“With creation?” Snape inquired. Oh, the blood.

“By earth and by blood, we could use a life-giving spell to push Voldemort so far over the edge that all his spells against death wouldn’t be able to work together.” Potter had a morbid smirk on his pale face, “We killed him with a love of life.”

There was a break and Potter looked down at his lap. Lupin picked up the thread, “The idea was to convince the magic around the area and the life-giving energy in the earth that it would be more prosperous for the future to be rid of Voldemort, and that keeping him alive would only bring about more death.” He hesitated and gave Potter’s hand a squeeze. “Hence all the defensive spells in the battle, and the exact movements that Harry had to push Voldemort into. The spiral would contain the Dark energy and help to kill him.”

“Every… attack, was designed to take him down,” Potter nearly whispered. Snape looked closely at the boy, who was steadily becoming paler. He drew out a blue bottle and held it out to the young wizard, who took it gratefully. After a moment of adjustment, Potter continued, though his skin was still with an unhealthy glow. “And it worked. The power behind the magic caught us all by surprise. I thought… that I was about to die…”

“But the Dark Lord was not gone,” Snape hazarded a guess.

Potter nodded slowly and Lupin twitched his hand, as though restraining himself from reaching out to the Wizarding Savior. “Yes,” Potter said softly. “I could feel the moment his body died that a part of him… the missing piece… came aware inside me.”

Lupin looked startled, “That’s not possible.”

Tired eyes swung over to the werewolf. “Why not, Remus? His intention when he came to kill my parents was exactly that, wasn’t it? To make the last horcrux?… Well he succeeded.” The young wizard hesitated, “I don’t think he meant it to be me… but with my mother’s protection… nothing went as planned that day.”

Snape could hear the irony dripping from Potter’s words and snorted, despite himself, catching the attention of both wizards. Lupin leveled him with a disapproving look and Potter, to his surprise, gave a small grin.

The werewolf turned back to Potter with a more stressed look on his face. “But what of the Dementor, Harry? I thought… we thought that you had died…” Lupin choked out.

Potter turned to Snape, “That’s where you helped me, Professor.”

Snape quirked an eyebrow, “I, Potter?” The young wizard nodded and Snape was taken aback. “Explain,” he demanded.

“Occlumency,” Potter replied simply. After a moment of thought, he added, “At a somewhat deeper level, anyway.”

Lupin frowned, “That shouldn’t have made a difference, Harry. Dementors eat souls, whether they can feel your thoughts or not.”

“But I was not the only soul in my body,” Potter countered. “Voldemort was there too, thanks to his own spells, and it was him or me to the Dementors. I just had to…” he paused, “…not be there… and I remembered the occlumency.”

“Even so, Potter, you were not at any level acceptable to make such an effect,” Snape interjected, recalling Potter’s dismal attempts during the time he had to teach him.

“I did practice after you had left, Professor,” Potter replied dryly. “It was rather necessary.” Snape paused for a moment, wondering whether he should test the truth of that statement when Potter twisted his fingers in a negative gesture. “I don’t think testing me now would prove all that much, Professor.”

Irked that Potter had read him so easily, Snape went on, “Supposing you practiced then, it still shouldn’t conceal your soul.”

Potter’s face was troubled again, “I’m not quite sure… it’s hard to explain, but it felt like I was pushing him… He was trying to control my body anyway, so I could feel his presence trying to overwhelm me… A lot of it was just letting it happen.” He paused and wouldn’t look at either wizard as he spoke. “It burned. It… it felt like dying… in fire.”

Lupin crouched down and grasped Potter’s hand gently, straining the restraints a bit. “Then you were reborn,” he said. “And we are grateful.”

“Thanks Remus,” Potter whispered. Snape had to remind himself not to snap at either of them with the sentimentality. Instead, he focused on Potter’s other hand, where he could see the color being leeched out from the skin. With a frown, he observed the young wizard’s face to see that he hadn’t regained any of the color there, either. He took out a red bottle and held it in front of Potter.

“Drink this,” he said. Potter obediently (and when did Potter become obedient anyway?) drank the liquid. Snape watched for the expression to become relaxed and was frustrated to find Potter’s face twitch in displeasure. However, the young wizard did fall back into a fitful sleep and the werewolf leaned over Potter in a concerned way. Snape waved the werewolf back. “He’ll be fine, Lupin. He just needs sleep now.”

“But Harry…” Lupin trailed off at the look in Snape’s eyes. The Potion’s Professor stood up and moved out of the room, with Lupin and Madame Pomfrey following.

Madame Pomfrey stopped Snape before he could leave the Hospital Wing. “Severus, I’m concerned,” she said. “Mister Potter is still very stressed from the ordeal and his magic appears unstable.”

“How could you tell?” Lupin asked. “I couldn’t detect any flares in his magic.”

Snape sent an exasperated glare at the werewolf. “Did you not notice the extra wards around the room? His magic was being suppressed for his safety.”

“Yes,” Madame Pomfrey interrupted before the two could get in a spat. “He should not have been able to use his magic at all, but he was straining himself to keep talking to you.”

Snape frowned. “You used wards to suppress magic entirely… around a wizard that has just come from battle? That could injure him more than help him.”

She sighed, “I didn’t have a choice. His actions were interfering with any attempts to heal his exterior injuries. I’m also concerned for any internal damage, we couldn’t check for everything when he was so wild.”

“Then shouldn’t you check for the rest now, while Harry’s sedated?” Remus glanced back at the door.

“If I’m not mistaken, some of the tests I need to use are incompatible with the potions you used, Severus?” Snape confirmed with a brief nod. “Then I’ll need to wait until…”

A noise like an alarm went off over the door they had previously exited. Wasting no time, the three dashed back to the room to find the young wizard straining against his restraints. His mouth was open but only a rasp escaped his throat, somehow sounding worse than the screaming before. Snape quickly moved to the side of the bed and pinned down his arm, while Lupin moved to the opposite side.

“What’s wrong with him?” Lupin asked, worried.

“He should not be able to move at all,” Snape growled distractedly.

“Then give him something else!”

“We can’t,” Snape bit out. “If we mix anything with those draughts we’ll kill him. That was the strongest potion I had.”

“Do you have anything else, Severus?” Madame Pomfrey asked, while struggling with Potter’s legs.

Snape thought it over. “Nothing here at Hogwarts,” he finally stated. “I have some potions at the manor that may help.”

“Then you’ll have to take him there,” Madame Pomfrey took out her wand and summoned a stretcher next to the bed.

“What?” Lupin and Snape asked together. With a wary look at Snape, the werewolf continued, “Wouldn’t it be worse to move him?”

“I can’t tell when the remains of the potion will be out of his system,” Madame Pomfrey snapped. “Since it could be anytime, it would be best for young Mister Potter to be where the potion can be administered immediately. You have appropriate accommodations, Severus?”

“Yes,” Snape muttered irritably. The werewolf assisted him with moving Potter onto the stretcher and securing him with tightened restraints. Lupin looked as though he didn’t want to leave Potter, but Madame Pomfrey moved to take him aside.

“Remus, I believe you will be needed here once the others arrive,” she said gently.

Lupin looked undecided for a moment and took a long look at Potter’s pale face. Snape watched as he leaned in and whispered in Potter’s ear, “Take care, Harry. I’ll see you soon.” Lupin turned and looked hard at Snape. His voice was almost a growl as he spoke. “I’m trusting you, Severus. Take care of him.”

Snape refrained from scoffing. Of course he would take care of the Savior of the Wizarding World. Better that than face the incoming Aurors and Order members at this point. Snape took another look at Potter’s wan features and felt momentarily chilled. He would have his work cut out for him, he acknowledged as he stepped into the nearby fireplace.

“Snape Manor,” he shouted and took Potter away to save his life.

*****