Scarlet Pain

A/N: Once again, I thank my wonderful reviewers for your support and encouraging words. I appreciate them more than I can express. Sorry this chapter took so long.

Also, a note on dialogue format:
\"Regular dialogue\"
\"Ghost dialogue to the living\"

And now, onto the next chapter!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Scarlet Pain
Chapter 22

\"Well this is certainly unexpected,\" Dumbledore\'s eyes twinkled as he looked at the ghost in front of him. Ravenclaw just pushed her translucent black hair back and raised an eyebrow, looking oddly reminiscent of her - also dead - distant cousin Salaazar.

\"Really? And here the students claim you are omniscient,\" her voice had an echo like quality, and seemed distant in it\'s softness. She paused at the slight shadow of remorse that crossed the Headmaster\'s face. It was gone quickly, replaced by a sheepish expression.

\"I would offer you tea and a lemon drop, Madame, though I fear my good intentions may come out less polite than they are meant.\" Rowena smiled at this.

\"And had I the means I would no doubtedly accept. No matter,\" the ghost continued, \"I believe I can assume that you have a least some clue as to why I am here.\"

The twinkle came back full force.

\"You flatter me Madame Ravenclaw. I take it this about the odd fact that both my potions master and Harry Potter are now locked in the Room of Requirement?\" The ghost gave a sharp nod, lips quirking in something that resembled both a smirk and an honest grin.

\"Yes. And I am going to have to ask you to leave things be. They will be released when we feel they are ready.\"

\"We?\" Had Rowena been a few centuries younger and alive, she would have rolled her eyes.

\"I\'m sure you can guess who my companions are.\" Albus nodded, then looked at her quizzically. The ghost gave a sigh. \"Just ask your question Headmaster.\"

\"I hadn\'t realized your ghosts remained after your deaths, or that they resided here in the castle.\"

\"We have made a point to avoid everyone except Headmasters, and even then you are the first in the last ten that we have visited. We each have our own sanctuaries here, and no, you do not get to know where they are, but we like to come out and check up on things every now and again.\" There was a silence, before Dumbledore spoke again, his voice and eyes serious and somewhat wary.

\"What is happening that your intervention is so necessary?\" Rowena gave him a sad smile.

\"I cannot tell you, Albus, and though I am not sorry, I do wish it could be different. Events must follow their course on their own, without interference, even if the urge to... \'change the future\' as it were, is tempting.\" She gave a pause, then looked pointedly over her spectacles at the Headmaster. \"I have found that prophesies, no matter how accurate or verifiable they may seem, are often self-fulfilling - even if only by the fact that they are told and people take action with the knowledge of what they hear. Now, enough of my rambling. I wish you a good day, \"

Long after the ghost of Rowena Ravenclaw had breezed through the walls of the castle, Albus Dumbledore sat sucking on a lemon drop, deep in thought.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Severus paced. By his calculations, it was probably nearing the end of Halloween day. In fact, if his stomach - and the very ovious meal layed out on a table that hadn\'t been there two hours ago - was anything to go by, it was about dinner time.

Harry eyed his agitated Potions professor warily and nibbled at the food the castle had given them. After fifteen minutes of watching Snape, he finally snapped.

\"Sir, could you please just sit down and eat. You\'re making me dizzy.\" The Potions Master whirled around with a sharp glare that had the young Gryffindor looking away, shifting uncomfortably. After a few moments, during which Harry could still feel his professor\'s furious gaze, Snape nearly threw himself in the chair across from his student.

There was an awkward silence and Severus found himself sipping primly from a glass of pumkin juice and oh what he wouldn\'t have given for some firewhisky. And suddenly, the pumkin juice was gone, replaced by the burning alcohol that had him nearly choking. He finished it in drink, opening his throat to let it all slide in, before roughly placing the glass back on the table. Harry watched him out of the corner of his eye, warily, as the agitation grew.

The glass refilled itself, and Snape downed that one too. He needed out of this room. He needed to be away from the damn young man across from him so he could think clearly. He couldn\'t even tell why being away from Harry would make it easier to think, and by this point he didn\'t even want to know what it was about the boy that tugged at his emotions. Emotions that were supposed to be dead or so far buried they had no chance of getting past the bitterness and anger and guilt that Severus habitually let himself wallow in.

\"What are you looking at Potter?\" The professor spit out angrily, starting his third glass.

\"Nothing sir,\" Harry said quietly, his gaze going to his hands. He started to get up when he saw his professor move out of the corner of his eye and looked up just in time to see his usually calm and austere Potions professor throw his glass across the room to shatter against the wall.

Snape couldn\'t hold in the frustration of his own helplessness at the situation. The glass in his hand felt so fragile and breakable that all he wanted to do was destroy it. So he did. He glared at the door before yanking out his wand and shooting the strongest blasting curse he knew at it. Nothing. And his frustration, that was now transforming into despair, grew. The alcohol was starting to take affect.

Harry stood slowly and tried to back away, though to where he wasn\'t quite sure. He just wanted to put as much space between him the ticking time-bomb that was his professor.

Severus whirled around the sound of Harry\'s chair moving and stared at the boy, who was frozen under his gaze. In the back of his mind the Potions Master registered his student\'s tense shoulders, fisted hands, eyes wide in nervousness and barely contained fear. And yet, the fury that had been building since he had watched the once confidant young man crumble into a beaten and abused boy blinded him. All he could see was the one person who had thrown all of his expectations and misconceptions in his face, the broken figure that had the audacity to look at him as if he should be the one to put him back to together again.

And suddenly the young Gryffindor was bolting away from him, scrambling towards the other side of the bed, trying to get as far away as the room would let him. But Snape was faster, and in the blink of an eye he had grabbed the younger man by the shoulders. Both stumbled and Harry found himself pinned to the bed under his professor.

Severus\' body registered the frightened cry, the fisted hands beating at him, the body thrashing in its attempts to escape, dry eyes wide in terror. But his mind did not.

\"You!\" Snape choked out a yell. \"You did this to me!\" His voiced cracked and his body trembled. \"You were supposed to be spoiled and arrogant and a brat! You were supposed to be treated like a prince! You were supposed to be like your father!\" His face twisted desperately. \"You weren\'t supposed to be abused! You weren\'t supposed to be like this!\" Suddenly his head fell and the once stoic professor buried his face in his student\'s shoulder. \"We weren\'t supposed to have anything in common other than a mutual hatred for each other and the Dark Lord!\"

Harry stared up in shock, his hands still fisted in professor\'s robes. Even above his own trembling, he could feel the man\'s body shaking above him. At first, he hadn\'t wanted to listen to whatever Snape was yelling at him, but he couldn\'t stop the words from registering in his brain. He couldn\'t stop the twist of his heartstrings at the sound of his teacher\'s voice cracking. And he couldn\'t stop his hand as it moved to rub his professor\'s back as comfortingly as he was able considering his position.

\"Professor?\" Harry asked quietly, and felt the body on top of him stiffen.

Severus, having let out his frustration, suddenly registered what he had just done. He yanked himself back as if he\'d been burned and looked down at the boy beneath him before pulling off the younger man completely. With a shaking hand the Potions Master covered his face and leaned back against the banister of the bed. For a moment, all was still, then Snape heard a quiet gasp of pain as Harry tried to move.

The professor looked up quick enough to see the small grimace on his student\'s face. Harry\'s hand clutched his side and he struggled silently into a sitting position, his gaze everywhere but at the professor.

\"Harry?\" Severus reached towards him, everything forgotten in an attempt to assess what damage he\'d just caused. The younger man shied away from him before freezing, a self-depricating look crossing his features.

\"I\'m - it\'s nothing professor. I just strained where the cuts were.\"

\"Let me look at them.\" The words were phrased as an order, but the tone of voice was much more soft than Harry had ever heard coming from the Potions Master.

\"Yes sir.\"

Harry had reopened the deepest cut. Snape quickly changed the bandages and gave the younger man another healing potion and pain reliever. Everything was done in silence, with Snape looking everywhere but Harry\'s face and Harry looking only at his. When he was finished, Severus cast a quickly cleansing charm on both of them before turning away from the young man on the bed.

\"I\'m sorry professor.\" Severus turned to look at the boy and his face grimaced with guilt before he shoved his emotionless facade back up.

\"Mr. Potter, you have nothing to apologize for. I as a professor have abused my position , and for that I am sorry. Rest assured that once we are out of here I will report my actions to the Headmaster for review and punishment - \"

\"No!\" Harry interrupted desperately. Snape\'s voice faltered. \"Don\'t do that professor, it\'s...I\'m fine. You didn\'t - you don\'t have to do that.\" Harry didn\'t even think about the fact that three months ago he would have jumped for joy at the thought of the \'Greasy Git\' being potentially sacked. As for Severus, had he been anyone else he would have gaped in disbelief. As it was, all he could do was stare. After a moment he shook his head with a scowl.

\"This is not up for discussion.\" Before Harry could continue Severus pushed on. \"It is late, and I would advise you to get some sleep.\" He glared, daring the young Gryffindor to object. The staring contest lasted about thirty seconds, and all Harry did was nod, and scoot over on the bed to leave room for Snape.

\"Nox.\" Severus let the room fall into darkness, and waited till he could hear the even sounds of Harry\'s breath as the young man slept. Even afterwords, the professor spent a long time just sitting in the dark, staring at his arm even though he could not see it. When he could no longer keep his eyes open, Severus climbed into the bed and promptly fell asleep.



TBC