Guilty as Sin

CHAPTER 22

“This blows.” Draco leaned on the open window of the train compartment staring at Harry still standing on the platform. It was snowing so heavily that the end of the train was barely visible from where Harry was standing.

“It’s only for two weeks and write to me, even if you have to send it via Snape so that Lucius doesn’t know.” Draco nodded as the whistle blew and the train slowly began to pull away from the platform. Harry didn’t bother trying to keep up, the snowflakes making it impossible to see much anyway. Harry waved until he couldn’t see the lights of the train compartments anymore before turning and heading back to the Thestral drawn carriage. Snuggling down in his cloak against the biting snow Harry climbed up into the carriage he’d come down in, not even noticing the other occupant until he cleared his throat.

“Professor!” Harry was a little shocked to see the elder wizard sitting opposite him in the carriage and silently wondered why the man had come down with the departing students. “I didn’t know you’d come down with the carriages.” Snape nodded his head casually as the carriage began moving.

“Albus thought it prudent to send a professor along to accompany the students.” Harry frowned a little in confusion as Snape crossed his leg over and settled into the corner cushion of the carriage’s seat. In the darkness of the carriage Snape’s eyes sparkled like onyx jewels and Harry had to force himself to look away when he realized he was staring.

“Oh, I assumed the Auror’s escort and Hagrid would be enough?” Harry commented casually as the carriage moved smoothly along the road.

“Indeed but I convinced the headmaster you needed a little company on the return journey.” Harry raised a suspicious eyebrow in Snape’s direction but didn’t comment as Snape’s expression remained passive. An uncomfortable silence settled in the carriage and Harry felt awkward for the first time in Snape’s presence. Of late he hadn’t spent an awful lot of time with Snape, what with the professor being called regularly to a summons or an Order meeting, but Harry hadn’t considered the time apart would make him feel awkward around the elder wizard. In the hopes of finding something to stimulate a conversation out of the carriage window, Harry leaned forward and stared out at the passing scenery. As the carriage drew up to the fork in the road Harry was surprised when the carriage turned right instead of left to head back to the castle.

“Where are we going?” Harry inquired as he shifted to the other side of the carriage to watch the dim outline of the castle disappear from view.

“Just a small errand to run before returning to our dreary prison.” Snape stared out of the window passively inattentive to the boy who sat on the opposite bench, wide eyed with curiosity. Harry knew better not to press the elder wizard for information and merely sat quietly watching the heavy snowflakes cover everything in sight.

It wasn’t long before the carriage shuddered to a halt on the cobble streets of Hogsmeade. Harry frowned a little in concern, no student having been allowed in Hogsmeade since mid September. Snape pulled the hood of his cloak up and stepped down from the carriage before turning and holding his gloved hand out to help Harry down the step onto the road. Tentatively Harry accepted the man’s hand noticing acutely the warm squeeze before Snape turned towards the pub they’d pulled up outside.

“Come along Potter.” Harry could barely hear Snape’s voice above the howling of the wind and lost sight of the elder wizard as he strode through the already deep snow towards the entrance of the Hogshead. Tightening his cloak about his body Harry struggled to follow in Snape’s large strides the snowflakes biting at his skin painfully. By the time Harry had reached the entrance to the pub his black cloak was white with melting snow, and his cheeks and nose were rosy red and cold. Harry paused just inside the warm entrance to the pub and glanced curiously inside. Students were never permitted inside a licensed establishment unless on allotted days, and Harry had certainly never ventured into the Hogshead.

The place was packed to the brim with wizards and witches alike all laughing raucously and swilling from tankers of fire whisky. The hogshead was known for its rough clientele and Harry could see why. Every miscreant wanderer that had come in search of the feared ‘Elith-furatu’ was here; carrying what Harry could see was every conceivable weapon possible. All of them however wore their wands publicly visible on specially designed holsters at their hips. There was gambling, drinking, half naked women and fights breaking out everywhere, most of the patron’s either intoxicated or well on their way, and it was only 10.30 in the morning. Why Snape had even dared to bring Harry here was inconceivable, especially considering the volume of bounty hunters in the area. With a nervous sigh Harry shook his coat off and glanced around the pub for Snape. Harry found the elder wizard standing at the bar talking to the topless witch serving. Avoiding eye contact with everyone Harry weaved his way through the crush of bodies towards the professor. By the time Harry made it to Snape the man had a glass of butter beer and a tankard of fire whisky sitting in front of him.

“This place is crazy.” Harry muttered as he squeezed himself into Snape’s side trying and failing to avoid the lecherous stares he was getting from the shady characters. Snape glanced across at Harry and pushed the glass of butter beer across the bar to the boy who gratefully accepted it. Harry went to sip from the warm liquid but before he could taste the beer he felt a hand come clamping down on his rear, squeezing a generous amount of his cheek firmly. Harry squeaked in surprise but before Harry could see whom it was Snape had leaned around him, grabbed the man’s hand and proceeded to snap his wrist with a sickening crack and a howl of pain. Harry smiled thankfully up at Snape who nodded casually before taking his fire whisky and weaving his way over towards a spare window seat in the back corner. Harry followed the figure of his professor closely and only relaxed when his backside was firmly on the cushioned window seat and safe from wandering hands. “I thought we had an errand.” Harry spoke as he cupped his warm glass of butter beer and sipped from it, allowing the liquid to warm his chill.

“This is it.” Snape muttered his onyx gaze flicking around the pub slowly, before glancing cautiously out of the window at the Hogsmeade street.

“What?” Harry queried as he stared at Snape strangely who was again passing his gaze over the crowded pub looking for something or someone. Snape’s gaze narrowed almost the instant he found what he was looking for and Harry spun around on the bench to try and see what the professor had.

“Brazen son of a bitch.” Snape muttered to himself his gaze not leaving what ever he’d discovered. Harry strained his neck to try and see but couldn’t see past people’s heads.

“What?” Harry pressed more irritated now as he gave up trying to see and turned back to stare at Snape pointedly. Harry watched as Snape rolled his eyes and took a swill of his fire whisky before finally looking back at Harry.

“It seems your little friend is playing eight ball with the very hunters who seek him.” Harry’s eyes widened in shock and he stood up quickly to again look at what Snape had seen. Sure enough the familiar red haired wizard he’d come across down by the lake earlier in the year was sitting around a table with bounty hunters playing what appeared to be a game of cards. Quickly Harry sat back down again and swallowed another mouthful of butter beer nervously.

“Is, what, I mean…was this your?” Harry stumbled nervously over his words unconsciously shifting closer to Snape who smiled down at him deviously.

“Eloquence is not your strong point is it Potter?” Snape muttered as he sipped again at his fire whisky. “And to answer your question no it was not my intention in coming here to find him, we have other business to attend,” Harry watched as Snape glanced over his shoulder out of the window and smiled darkly as a dark figure came into sight down the road. Harry couldn’t make out who the figure was but it was obviously Snape knew whom he was. “…that if we are lucky has just arrived.” Harry followed Snape’s gaze to the front door of the pub and watched as a hooded figure stepped inside and scanned the pub quickly. Harry watched as Snape nodded his head in the stranger’s direction before the man began to make their way over to him. “Now keep your mouth shut, your head down, and your hood up.” Snape tugged the hood of Harry’s cloak up and down over his face as the stranger approached them. Harry obediently did as he was told, even tucking his hands into the folds of his robe to hide his nervous shakes.

Harry didn’t know what to expect as the shadow of the stranger fell over him and Snape. However when the stranger spoke Harry’s heart skipped a beat, the familiar voice almost causing him to gasp in surprise.

“Severus.”

“Lucius.” Snape whispered in cordial reply as he offered the cloaked figure a seat in front of their little bench. Harry didn’t dare look up to confirm what his hearing had told him and merely twitched a little uncomfortably as he saw Snape shake Lucius’ hand.

“For a potions master you take risks Severus.” Lucius voice had not changed in the year or so since Harry had last heard it. Like Draco’s it was deep and melodic, the deceptively warm timbre disguising the harsh words.

“I like the thrill.” Snape replied calmly as he slid his hand over onto Harry’s knee that was unconsciously bouncing up and down with nerves. Harry froze still at the touch immediately realizing what he had been doing and hoping that Snape didn’t punish him for it later.

“This must be your whelp.” Lucius must have seen the movement of Snape’s hand and misinterpreted it as a caressing pat. Snape snorted in amusement as he purposefully rubbed his hand up Harry’s thigh and back to his knee possessively.

“Indeed.” Snape replied coolly, keeping his answer to a minimum to avoid further conversation about the topic. Lucius read Snape’s message clearly and nodded in silent apology. “Now what have you brought me?” Snape continued lowering his voice further so that their conversation couldn’t be overheard.

“A little of each you requested, milked fresh this morning.” Harry watched from beneath the shadow of his hood as Lucius pulled a black velvet cloth from within his cloak, covertly handing it over to Snape. The ‘chink’ of what the cloth was wrapped around was a dead give away to its glass contents. Snape unwrapped the corner of the velvet cloth to inspect the contents before nodding and stowing the package in the folds of his own robe.

“Many thanks my friend, I would have done it myself but as you can see…” Harry watched as Snape gestured around at the pub and its occupants by way of strange explanation.

“…fame and money attracts such riffraff.” Lucius nodded in agreement and stood up from the chair, their meeting obviously over. “Am I to tell the witch you will be joining us for Christmas this year again?” Harry frowned deeply as he watched Snape shrug casually in reply.

“Perhaps, we shall see.” With a curt nod of acknowledgement Lucius had disappeared back through the crush of the pub’s occupants and out of the door leaving Snape casually finishing off the rest of his fire whisky with a look of complete satisfaction. Harry was still stunned and more than a little angry that he didn’t know what was going on. Harry went to pull his hood back and shout at the professor but froze as he felt a hand come down to rest on his shoulder and an unmistakable aroma engulf his senses.

“We meet again my little water lily.” The icy cold voice made a shiver run up Harry’s spine and the boy immediately spun around to stare up into the face of the red haired stranger he’d run away from in the forest. The man’s warm smile twisted bitterly as his glance shifted from Harry to the other occupant of the bench. It was then Harry remembered about Snape and spun back around to face the professor. Snape’s gaze had narrowed dangerously and had fixed itself on the strangers. Harry could feel the tension and practically smell the combined assault of two Superei hanging over him. Harry knew that Snape was relying on the chain around his neck to control himself just as undoubtedly the stranger was doing. It would do none of their causes any good to create a scene in the middle of a pub packed with bounty hunters. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?” The stranger spoke calmly his gaze not leaving Snape’s.

“Um…” Harry stumbled nervously as he shrugged off the man’s painfully tight grip on his shoulder and shifted unconsciously closer to Snape.

“We were just leaving.” Snape interjected quickly as he stood up, to reveal his considerable height above the stranger. Harry nodded and stood up as well, practically molding himself to Snape’s side as the professor wrapped a possessive arm around his waist and began guiding him towards the door.

“I’ll be seeing you again bathing beauty.” Harry didn’t dare glance back as the stranger called to him over the crowd. Snape’s hold of his waist tightened painfully and it wasn’t until they were back outside in the driving snow that Snape finally let go and pushed Harry forcefully away from him in disgust. Harry stumbled in the deep snow watching in confusion as Snape took off up the road. Knowing instinctively that he should follow Harry struggled to keep up with his Superei.

It was only by the time they’d reached the entrance into the Shrieking shack that Harry caught up with Snape. Panting and puffing Harry stumbled into the tumbled down house with relief just a few steps behind Snape.

“Why didn’t we just take a carriage?” Harry panted heavily finding it hard to breath when he was so cold. Snape spun around in the stairwell down into the tunnel leading to Hogwart’s and glared at Harry pointedly.

“Because I felt like walking.” Snape snapped darkly as he descended the steps leaving Harry to catch up again in the torch lit tunnel. Snape’s anger seemed to have been cooled a little with the march through the snow and Harry was somewhat relived he didn’t have to deal with the full force of Snape’s anger. Draco had always been around to deflect some of the anger Snape released on them both and Harry didn’t know how he was going to cope handling Snape on his own for two weeks.

“You think the Auror’s would be swarming all over that pub. Did you see some of those wands, they can’t have been registered.” Trying to make small talk Harry continued as he followed Snape’s impressive figure ahead of him.

“The Ministry and Auror’s see only what they wish to see when it suits them. It takes a criminal to catch a criminal Potter, and while ever those lunatics in the Hogshead are seen to be doing the Ministry a favour, the Auror’s will turn a blind eye to any of their illicit activities.” Harry sighed inwardly to himself as Snape didn’t slow down his long stride. Harry was literally jogging along to keep up, the only upside was that it wasn’t through snow.

“Sir what did Lucius….” Harry stumbled on a tree root loosing his concentration for a moment and not realizing that Snape had come to a complete stop in front of him. Harry ran into Snape’s back like a dead weight the boy falling backwards into the dirt as Snape spun around and glared down at him with a familiar lavender hue in his eyes.

“My name is Severus, Harry. Do me the courtesy of using it when we’re alone, I dislike my profession as teacher to moronic students and prefer not to be reminded of it by your use of formal titles when addressing me.” Harry stared stunned up at Snape, who for the first time ever had used Harry’s first name. Blankly Harry nodded in agreement as he got to his feet and dusted himself off. Snape was still staring at him though and Harry self-consciously tugged at the sleeves of his jumper avoiding looking Snape in the eye. “As for Lucius Malfoy we have a certain arrangement.” Harry watched as Snape reached into his cloak pulling out the parcel wrapped in velvet cloth that he’d taken off Lucius earlier. Harry watched as Snape unwrapped the cloth revealing five sparkling vials of a very familiar crimson liquid. Harry stared in disbelief at the vials as Snape held each one up to the torch light inspecting the liquid contents.

“That’s…” Harry trailed off nervously not wanting to sound idiotic by stating the obvious. “…I mean where did he get it?” Harry queried covering his original stumble.

“Being part of Voldemort’s inner circle provides certain opportunities which can be covered more easily than in public.” Snape raised a smooth calculating eyebrow in Harry’s direction as he took one of the vials, and stowed the other four away in his cloak. “I would under normal circumstances do it myself, but now having to provide for both yourself and Draco as well I have had to enlist some help.” Harry stared at Snape as the man uncorked the vial and held the glass tube under his nose inhaling deeply on the aroma.

“But that means that Lucius knows about…” Harry’s eyes widened impossibly as he watched Snape tip the vial up into his mouth. The sight made Harry weak and the boy fell heavily against the wall of the tunnel as Snape swallowed half the vial before proceeding to lick his lips clean of the crimson blood. Harry was entranced, his heart pounding in his chest and his breathing erratic. All too well Harry remembered the feeling of the cool slide of the liquid running down his throat, and the sparks of ecstasy it sent rippling through his body. He’d felt more alive than he’d ever done before, and right now he wanted nothing more than to rip the vial from Snape’s hand and drink what was left. Something though kept him rooted to the spot as Snape took a deep breath in and purred almost in content.

“Mmmm the dark lord’s dungeons are a wealth of lost souls just waiting to be harvested.” When Snape opened his eyes again they were a deep indigo colour and Harry whimpered as the elder wizard locked his gaze with his. Snape smiled sadistically as he held out the half empty vial towards where Harry was panting heavily against the tunnel wall in the shadows. “Take it Harry and drink the fruits of our labor.” Harry shook as he reached out towards the vial his tongue automatically coming out to lick his lips ravenously as his fingers wrapped warily around the glass tube. “You will hunt in freedom soon enough but for now accept my gift with the promise of more.” Harry dimly felt Snape step up to him the man’s spicy scent mixing with the metallic tang of the blood in the vial. Closing his eyes Harry tipped the crimson liquid down his throat swallowing it quickly as Snape kissed his way up and down Harry’s throat, following the boy’s swallowing reflex. Harry shuddered as Snape pulled away having pressed a wet, needy kiss on Harry’s lips. “You will learn to harness the magic in every drop Harry, but for now let it settle the cravings and calm you.” With a wicked smile Snape stashed the empty vial into the pocket of his robes before turning to continue striding down the tunnel. Harry regained his senses enough to catch up again, his head still spinning with the dizzying heights of ecstasy but his thoughts focused firmly on the question Snape had avoided answering previously.

“Severus?” Harry called uselessly to Snape up ahead but the professor was already whispering the charm to calm the whomping willow above them as he crawled through the opening. The snow had drifted high against the tree trunk and Snape had to scoop away the snow to get them out. Harry shuddered as the wind once again whipped at his face as he scrambled out of the hole. Snape stepped back from the tree and with a flick of his wand had returned the disturbed snow to its place and reanimated the tree. “Severus?” Harry tried again as he ran to catch up with Snape who was already heading towards the entrance into the school. “You didn’t tell me if Lucius knew…” Finally Snape paused on the top step leading into the castle doors and Harry stopped a step below the elder wizard who’d lowered his hood ready to enter the hall.

“He does Harry. Or at least he knows about me.” Harry was stunned and stared at Snape in shock. “Potter please don’t play ignorant it’s unbecoming. Whom do you think is Lucius test subject for his research that I’m sure Draco has informed you all about?” Harry was floored his mouth opening and closing uselessly.

“But Draco said his father would kill…” Finding his voice Harry put words to his fear but paused as Snape butted in.

“…kill his own son.” Snape finished before continuing. “Indeed such is the stigma attached to having an ‘unforgiven’ in the family that Lucius would not hesitate to kill Draco should he ever find out about his son’s affliction. However unlike the majority of ignorant individuals Lucius Malfoy knows who to ally himself with if he wishes to stay alive in this war.”

“And your agreement?” Harry whispered still mildly in shock.

“Simply put, I feed Lucius information about myself and our kind so that Voldemort keeps off his back about his research task, in exchange Lucius harvests blood from Voldemort’s captives for me. It is far easier to explain two of us torturing captives, than just my doing it alone. Satisfied Potter?” Snape finally fell into silence his gaze meeting Harry’s in challenge of any more questions that Harry might have. Harry knew better than to argue and nodded obediently. “Good than let us get inside before we both freeze to death.” With a curt nod of his head Snape strode in through the front doors leaving a cold, shaken Harry to follow.


TBC>>>>

A/N As promised another update with some bitching plot, bet you didn\'t see that coming... Anyway thanks for the reviews and I\'ll endeavour to update tomorrow after work sometime. *Shakes head* Originality died generations ago, even Shakespear nicked from Mythology. *continues shaking head* I should read more before I come up with my hair brain ideas...

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