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Kim, thequeenanne, you know what good things you do!



After his breakfast with Lupin, Severus had gone downstairs only to be confronted by what seemed like several hundred people gathered in the entrance hall, and all of them seemed to be clamouring to talk to him. Or rather, talk at him, and he did not for one moment like the things that they were saying.

“There he his, that’s him.” someone commented in gruff tones. “He’s the one that’s enslaved Harry Potter.”

“Shame,” someone else muttered, “They shouldn’t have let a Death Eater anywhere near the saviour, precious boy that he is.”

Someone else shouted, “Where is he, you bastard? What have you done with Harry Potter?”

But in an instant, moving far more quickly that a man his age should be able to, Albus was beside him at the foot of the staircase.

He held his hands up for silence.

“That will be enough,” he said, his face grave, eyes steely with determination. “Professor Snape does not deserve your condemnation. He rescued Mr Potter from a horrendous captivity. There is indeed a bond between them, which were endeavouring to alter, but Mr Potter is safe and well.”

As Dumbledore finished, Fudge came forward. “Well, so you say, Albus, so you say. But where is he? The boy should be down here if he is so well and safe. I for one want to see him.” There were murmurings of support from the crowd. “If there is a bond, then I do not think it should be left in the control of a Death Eater. The boy is too important. If he is indeed the Chosen One, then he should be taken into protective custody.” He puffed his chest up with self importance, “I would be willing to take on the bond, for the good of the magical community.”

There were a few scattered cheers from the crowd. They were mostly Ministry officials and press, but there were or two ‘worried parents’ in amongst them and quite a number, no doubt, who were here to catch a glimpse of the boy saviour.

Albus had lifted his hands again for silence, but this time no-one seemed to want to listen to what he had to say and Fudge, meanwhile, looked more self important than ever.
Severus heart sank. There was no way that anyone here was going to get their hands on his boy. The thought of what Fudge would have to do to claim Farid, made him sick to his stomach. He would hex and run if he had to, but, until this moment, he had truly thought things were about to change and that Farid would be safe.

He was about to speak, to say something, to try to defend his position when somebody joined him on the stairs. He turned to see who it was and saw, to his horror, the smug, odious features of Sirius Black.

Severus felt like giving up. Despite the tentative accord he and Black had reached the day before, he knew the man was still not a friend and this could be just the opportunity that he was waiting for. If he were to claim Farid in front of this crowd, it would be very difficult, if not impossible to stand against him.

“Thank you, Minister,” Black smarmed, forcing Severus to remember that the man was a pureblood and that, if he wanted to manipulate this situation to his advantage and secure Farid for himself, he was almost certain to succeed. “It is so good to see that the Ministry has my godson’s best interests at heart. But Harry is a legal adult and he chooses to stay with Severus. I do believe he loves him very much.”

Severus nearly choked at Black’s casual use of his first name, especially after he had denied it to him just the day before. Although, more than anything, it was his casual defence of Severus, that really shocked him. Instead of claiming Harry and denouncing him to everyone as Severus half expected, what Black had said to the group assembled before them rocked him to the core.

“But how can we know that the boy has made the right choice? He has been a captive since childhood. He could be being influenced by this… by this… ” Fudge was stuttering. He was obviously searching for an insult to use that was bad enough to denounce him to the crowd, Severus thought.

But Black jumped in again at this point. “I assure you, Minister, my godson is far from the broken, damaged individual that you seem to envisage. He is strong and capable and he chooses to stay with Severus Snape.” Here Black threw his arm around Severus’ shoulder in a gesture of comradeship and Severus determined that he would pay him back for this later, with interest! “Severus and I have not always seen eye to eye in the past,” Black was continuing, “but we are in accord over this. Harry is exhausted. He needs to rest, and Severus and I have somewhere else to be today.

And as for Severus being a Death Eater, you all know that recently he was unmasked as a spy.” Severus was fuming now. Black had conveniently forgotten to say that he, Black, was the one who had done the unmasking. “Severus has bravely fought for the side of light for nearly twenty years!”

“Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater!” someone in the crowd shouted.

“Oh, my dear sir, I don’t think so!” Black rejoindered. He turned to Severus then and, giving him a small bow, extended a hand.

“May I Severus?” he asked. Severus nodded once curtly and Black took hold of his arm, rolled back his sleeve, and exposed the bare, unmarked flesh for everyone to see.
The crowd gasped.

“Harry removed the Mark.” Black continued. “Severus has no allegiance to evil. He is a very brave man and a worthy consort for my godson! Now, if you will excuse us, we have some where else to be.”

And with that, he swept from the room with Severus following in his wake.

They left a far from happy crowd behind them, and Severus was seething silently at his treatment. He waited until they were safely ensconced in Albus’ office before exploding, “You bastard! You enjoyed that, didn’t you? ‘Brave man’ indeed, ‘recently unmasked.’ You were the stupid idiot that unmasked me!”

“Oh suck it up, Snivellus,” Black sneered back at him. “What was I supposed to say? I defended you, didn’t I? Do you really think I like you oiling yourself all over Harry? It seems to be what he wants though, and I have already fucked up any relationship I might have developed with him enough, so somehow, Merlin knows how! You and I are going to have to get along. It sure as heck won’t be easy though, because you are, and have always been, such a snarky git!”

The two men were standing nose to nose now shouting at one another. Just then Albus walked in.

“Well done, my boys!” He said, chuckling as he spoke, “Well done indeed! Fudge has headed off with quite a flea in his ear; he will want to meet with Harry in a few days, I think. But right now, I think we have something else to discuss, do we not?”

Albus went and sat at his desk. He seemed determined to completely ignore the fact that Severus and Black looked set to tear each other to shreds right then and there.

“I assume that you are considering taking a short trip to Surrey today, are you not?”

The two men turned and looked at him in astonishment.

“If so, I might just have a small instrument, which I use very rarely and certainly will not miss, that you can take with you. I would hope that there would be no permanent maiming or visible scars. We don’t want any problems with Muggle-Magical relations now, do we? I must head downstairs for a chat with Minerva right now, but there is a box on the desk that might just interest you. The instructions are inside.”

With that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and total raving lunatic, swept out of his office in his clashing purple and yellow robes.

Sirius and Severus looked at each other and, for the first time in their more than twenty year association, in complete accord, they laughed until tears streamed down their faces.


Privet Drive was quiet. It was nine thirty in the morning and many of its inhabitants had already left for work and school. But today, the Dursleys had unaccountably all come down with a bug. Nothing serious really, they had all just decided that they felt very tired and couldn’t really manage work today. Of course, this meant that Dudley and Vernon both stayed in bed and Petunia ran up and down, from room to room waiting on them hand and foot. But both men were feeling too sorry for themselves and Petunia was really too busy to hear the two subtle pops that sounded then just outside their front door.

Petunia came rushing down the stairs. She had just put the kettle on to boil and was going to make some nice hot tea for Vernon and Dudders when she caught sight to the two black-clad strangers standing at the bottom of her stairs.
Petunia Dursley screamed.

Vernon was out of bed, in a dressing gown, and on his way down stairs with surprising alacrity for a man of his size.
“What is it, dear?” he was shouting, but he trailed off as he saw the two sinister figures in front of him.

Lupin had been the one to visit the house when they had been searching for Harry initially, so Severus had been told, so the Dursleys had not seen Sirius since Lily and James wedding. And as far as he knew they had never seen Severus. Both men had chosen to dress carefully in suitably wizarding clothing.

After the boy’s letters had been returned, Hagrid had gone to see the family first. When he had been unable to get information about the boy, then the werewolf, as the most outwardly Muggle looking had been chosen. He would have been polite and courteous; Severus and Black planned no such consideration.

Severus could not help but think that Lupin’s visit had been a dreadful mistake. If he had gone , or even Black come to that, much as he despised the sanctimonious arsehole, they would have gotten to the truth far sooner and Farid would maybe have been found earlier and spared so much pain.

But then again, maybe, just maybe, if these wretched Muggles had contacted them the night that the boy had disappeared they could have tracked him down almost at once. Followed the clear fresh trail left by his disappearance and Harry, the child that Farid had been, would never have had to deal with rape and slavery at all.

He wanted to rip the fat man’s arms off torture him into insanity; slowly peel his skin away, using magic of course so that he would last that much longer. And from the look of him, fine upstanding Gryffindor that he was, Black felt just the same.

But Black was speaking now. “Ah Petunia, Vernon,” he purred. “So good to see you after all these years. I am James’ friend, Harry’s godfather. You may remember me? I am not long out of prison for the murder of twelve Muggles. I heard how you had treated Harry and decided I wanted to come and see you for myself!” The couple who were still trapped on the stairs had gone pale at this pronouncement. But Black was continuing, “This is my friend Severus, he is a Death Eater. He loves torturing Muggles too, preferably to death, don’t you, Severus?”

Severus could not bring himself to speak at this point. He had never expected such slow subtlety from Black, he had always thought of him as a ‘bludgeon them into acceptance’ kind of guy. But then of course, how could he have forgotten, Black was a founding member of the Marauders; the slow build up was one of his specialities, was it not? He should know they had used it on him often enough. So instead, he just smiled. Severus’ smiles were rarely pleasant so he was not surprised when Petunia screamed again.

Dudley Dursley had finally dragged himself out of bed to come and see what all the noise was about, and Black grinned evilly at him. “Ah, hello there!” he said. “If I am not mistaken, it is Harry’s beloved cousin. The one who was so kind and caring towards him, although perhaps not.” Black stood aside, “I suggest you come downstairs and join us in your hideous lounge.” he said quietly.

“You just see here,” Vernon began, but Black interrupted him before he could finish.

“NOW!!”

Seconds later, and the family were seated on the brown velour three-piece suite that formed the main furniture in the room. Petunia was sobbing softly to herself and Severus might have felt sorry for her if he had not known what terrors Farid had had to endure because of her cruelty and neglect.

“I suggest you are quiet, madam,” Severus said. “My colleague is rather volatile, and he so does not like being interrupted when he has something to say.” Then he turned his newly discovered evil grin on Black and said in silky tones,

“Do go on with what you were about to say, Sirius.” Black nodded at him and began to speak.

“Just recently, not more than a few short years ago, a friend of mine came looking for my godson. He had been placed with you and we all hoped that he would be safe, with people who loved him, away from the prying eyes of the wizarding world.”

“That Freak! Disgusting little animal that he was, filthy little beast, and you expected us to look after him?”

“SILENCE!” Black shouted, waving his wand over all the Dursleys. “You have not earned the right to speak! You will not be able to speak until I tell you to, for I have no wish to hear anything that you might say. Oh, and just in case you were wondering,” he added nastily, “you won’t be able to move until I release you, or until the spell is complete either!

“I know exactly what you thought of Harry, I saw it carved into his hip, marked along his back, burnt into his inner thigh. I know what you did to Harry and now, my dear Muggles, you are going to know it too.

“He was taken from your doorstep by evil, and tortured and raped. A child, removed from somewhere he should have been safe. Even if you could not have loved him you could have given him that.”

Black turned and leaned over Petunia, looking right into her face, right into her eyes. “Your own sister’s child. Would she have allowed such things to happen to your baby?”

When he stood up, Severus could see that his eyes sparked with emotion, glittered with tears. He was barely holding himself together and Severus understood at last that, despite it all, Black had just been trying to do the right thing. He had been searching for his friend’s child; a child who had indeed fallen into the darkest, most dreadful danger for many years, and he had been close to despair when he hadn’t found him. Black hadn’t been looking for the saviour of the wizarding world. He had just been searching for Harry.

Severus opened the box that Albus had given them.
“This is called a Resonator.” he said. “Stored in the walls, in the very fabric of your house is what has happened here, like a record, a memory of events. This object only picks up on those incidents, those situations, which are painful or which caused the most distress to those that lived through them, and plays them back like one of your Muggle video players.

But this isn’t make-believe. What you will see and hear and feel is what you did, what you allowed to happen. I have set it to go back sixteen years and to keep going until the last night that Harry spent within these walls. Somewhere here is stored all his anguish, all the loneliness and despair that you gifted him and you will feel it all just as he did.

“In twelve hours, it will all be over. And you will pack away this box and keep it safe because one day we will come for it. If it is damaged or broken then who knows what we might do to you. Keep it safe, little Muggles, until we return.”

He placed the Resonator. on the table and activated it with a wave of his wand. Then he stood and watched them, just for a moment whilst the heartbroken sobs of a very young child washed over them all.

“Mummy, Mummy, where are you Mummy? S’ dark, Please Mummy, want to go home!” And they heard a noise which just might have been the sound of a pair of very small hands banging on the inside of a cupboard door.

By the time he and Black apparated away both of them were sobbing.

“Was that Harry crying, do you think Severus?” the animagus asked.

Severus couldn’t speak, instead he just nodded tightly.

They were just outside the gates of Hogwarts, and Sirius turned and just hit the wall with his balled up fist. “We didn’t do enough. They need to suffer more for what they did to him.” He was on his knees now, bloody fist cradled in his lap.

“Didn’t you feel it, Black?” Severus said. “Didn’t you feel that dreadful sorrow? They have hours of that yet, and if it does not work then we go back time and time again until it does.”

“Will he be alright, Snape? Harry. Will you look after him? Please.”

“I will. I love him, you know. More than my own life.”

He extended a hand to Black, and the kneeling wizard took it with his uninjured hand and allowed himself to be helped to his feet.

Then slowly, not exactly together, but not as far apart as they once had been the two wizards had made their way up to the castle.

And now Farid, all grown up and with no memory of those early tears, was curled asleep beside Severus. Severus felt his own tears run hotly down his cheeks and into his hair and his ears where they lay and cooled. He leaned over again and placed yet another kiss on the head of his boy and quietly, when no one else could hear, he reaffirmed his promise. “I love you Farid, I will always look after you, always if you will have me.” Then despite his earlier prediction and worn about by all that had happened that day, Severus Snape drifted off to sleep.