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
Chapter Three

Snape and the Savior of the Wizarding World exited through the fireplace in the parlor of Snape Manor. He took a moment to gather himself and idly thought that it had been a while since he had come back to the manor. Voldemort had kept him fairly close in his time of service and the most he had seen of it was a few weeks during last year. Snape noted that the house elves were at least keeping the place clean, as the parlor looked as it always had.

“Dot,” he called out. A small house elf appeared before him in a simple blue cloth.

“Yes, Master Snape. What can Dot do for Master?”

“I want you to bring Mister Potter down to my dungeons in the room next to the laboratory,” Snape intoned. “Be sure to move him carefully, he is injured. Also remember to retrieve my regular robes and bring them down afterwards.”

“Yes, Master Snape.”

“Good.” Snape left the room without a backward glance. Dot was very loyal to Snape, even from when he was a child and he knew that she would follow his instructions to every detail. The most important thing now was to go down to his lab and storage to see if he had anything at all that might help Potter live. He frowned to himself as he rushed through the corridors. His stores had plenty of interesting (and not altogether legal) solutions to the problem at hand, but this was a unique case. It was not every child that went against the Dark Lord and lived to tell the tale… more than once.

He had reached his labs. Snape thrust open the door, remembering to catch it before it disturbed any of his potions. It would not do to have his labs explode before assisting Mister Potter. His eyes lit upon his stores with more than a little eagerness. It had been a long time since he had brewed in the manor. Snape muttered to himself as he looked over the shelves, searching for one of his older, more obscure potions. He finally reached some of his locked cabinets and, after a moment of contemplation, whispered the password.

“Venom.” The cabinet opened to reveal a clutter of unlabelled bottles of various sizes. Snape reached around the front bottles with the ease of familiarity and promptly picked up a nondescript yellow bottle. This had been one of his more volatile potions, and the most difficult to make. Of course, that was namely due to the fact that no decent human being would ever agree to get him the ingredients to make it. Luckily for him, and the young wizard upstairs, he knew a lot of wizards who were not decent human beings.

A light tap across the hall turned his attention to where Dot was levitating Potter on a stretcher. He was twitching in place under the restraints and Snape could see Dot focus on keeping the boy steady. Dot settled him onto a table in the room across the hall and walked back to Snape. She looked at Snape with concern and displeasure as she moved to hand him his robes.

“Master Snape is going to help Mister Potter?” Dot asked timidly.

Snape arched an eyebrow at her and she flushed, though she remained where she was. “I am going to try,” he stated. He stepped out of his Death Eater robes, leaving him in a pair of black trousers and simple black shirt. Taking his casual robe from Dot, he shrugged into it and crossed the hall to take a look at Potter. Potter was still twitching and Snape was displeased to see that Dot had needed to add extra straps to keep him secure. Pale skin contrasted harshly with scratch marks from the convulsions. The area around his left eye was also becoming swollen and with a glance at the lid, Snape could see that a blood vessel had popped. He frowned.

Potter was quickly declining and would be dead in less than an hour if his potion didn’t work. Snape wondered for a moment how he would be received at Hogwarts with news of the death of the Boy-Who-Lived. More than likely, the werewolf would tear him limb from limb before the Ministry could get to him, which would be a small blessing. He knew that the Ministry could be as bad as the Death Eaters in their torture of captives. He would just have to save Potter to save his own life, then.

Snape moved his wand over Potter’s body and let out a frustrated sigh. The last rejuvenating-sleep potion was still in his system and he couldn’t do anything until all the last traces of it had been removed. Nothing magical at any rate. Turning to the side, he transfigured a book into a table and summoned Dot. She appeared instantly and after glancing at Potter, looked up at Snape in question.

“Dot, I’m going to need a bucket of warm water and some cloths. Immediately.”

Dot was clever enough to make no reply. She Apparated away and back again in a flash with what Snape had asked for. Placing it on the table, Dot sent one last distressed look towards Potter and Disapparated. Snape dipped one of the cloths in the water and placed it over Potter’s eyes. Then he proceeded to take the other cloths and clean some of the worse gashes and scratches that had appeared. It was not very professional work, but Snape supposed it would have to do. The wounds would be clean, at least. Another tremor went through Potter’s frame and Snape checked him once more with his wand.

The last of the potion was gone. Snape frowned. As much as this was to his advantage, he had expected to wait for some time before the potion had completed its course. Potter was full of difficulties, it seemed. Carefully, Snape moved to the side of Potter’s head and propped him up. Holding his mouth open by the chin, Snape poured the new potion very slowly down Potter’s throat. As soon as he felt the first natural swallow, he stopped the potion and watched Potter’s face. The pale skin unnerved the professor, and he wasn’t certain whether he was imagining Potter’s breath slowing down.

“Come on, Potter,” Snape muttered, but there was no response from the boy. Hesitating, Snape opened Potter’s mouth and allowed the potion to drop into his mouth once more. He counted the drops as they fell in, feeling a small stab of fear with each number. One… two… three… four… A pause. Did Potter have a little more color? No. Five… Yes! Potter did have more color. Snape hastily put aside the yellow bottle and eased the boy back onto the table. Removing the cloth from Potter’s eyes, he watched as Potter gained back the look of the living and the dark lashes on the boy’s face began to flicker. Snape lifted an arm that now felt warmer than it had before and pinched the skin, then released it. He watched as the red quickly moved to the sight and he frowned. Looking back at Potter’s face, he looked for any sign of flushing. So far, it seemed that Potter was returning to a stable state, but Snape didn’t like that speed.

The eyelashes went from a flicker to a flutter and Snape was almost startled to see the boy waking up. Bright green eyes were soon piercing Snape with Potter’s gaze and he felt a jolt before Potter shut his eyes and groaned.

“Professor?” he rasped.

Snape mentally shook himself. “Potter, remain still until the potion has finished its course.”

“Where…”

“No moving means no talking, Mr. Potter. You will keep your questions to yourself until we are done here.”

Green eyes looked up to onyx once more and Snape felt his magic tingling. Looking away, Snape kept his stoic expression, but felt as though he was trying to catch his breath again. Finally, he moved his attention back to Potter’s arm and pinched the skin once more. Potter let out a sharp hiss in surprise but didn’t say a word. Snape watched the color return to the skin rapidly and quickly moved to look at Potter’s face once more. His cheeks were growing red and he was obviously discomforted; though he remained quiet. Without waiting to ask Potter, Snape grasped his chin and opened his mouth. There was a faint yellow tinge to the sides of his mouth and Snape cursed.

Whirling around, he grabbed one of the remaining cloths and dipped it in the water, wringing it thoroughly. He turned back towards Potter only to find the boy looking at him with a startled expression. Recognizing the beginnings of panic, Snape took a moment to speak. “Potter, you have had too much of the solution and some of it needs to be expelled immediately or you will die. You must do exactly as you’re told.” Potter’s sharp eyes met his once again and this time Snape physically shuddered. He ignored this and leaned over the sick savior and took Potter’s chin once more. Potter made no move to get away and Snape took this as acceptance.

Opening Potter’s mouth, Snape took his wand and cast several spells at the walls of his mouth. Potter’s saliva disappeared and the skin dried out. The yellow tinge turned into a fine, light powder covering the sides and Snape reached in with the cloth and rubbed the powder clear. Some water dripped from the cloth and Snape quickly muttered a spell that sucked the solution back onto the cloth. Completely clearing Potter’s mouth of the powder, Snape removed the cloth and tossed it to a corner, making note of which corner in his head. Moving back, Snape noted the sick look on Potter’s face and cancelled the dry spells. Potter still looked ill and Snape stood straight just in time as Potter leaned to the side and vomited.

With a foul look on his face, Snape said a quick, “Scourgify,” and moved Potter onto his back once more. Potter looked as though he was about to speak once more, but Snape silenced him with a quick shake of his head. He moved to take a fresh cloth and cleaned up Potter’s face before tossing it aside to the same corner as the other. Studying Potter’s face, he looked a little pale, but that could be due to the vomiting. Snape pinched the skin once again and watched. The return to color seemed a bit slower, he noted with satisfaction. Turning, he summoned a chair from the other room and sat down.

After a moment, Snape realized that Potter was looking at him. As Potter’s color returned, so did Snape’s frustration. “Fine,” he snapped. “You’re at Snape Manor. Poppy sent you here after you began convulsing. You are recovering.”

Hesitating, Potter spoke slowly, “What about Remus?”

That struck a nerve in Snape. He growled, “What about him?” Potter looked at the floor with nervous features. This only served to increase Snape’s ire and he didn’t think about why very carefully, “The werewolf is fine. He is with Poppy.” Potter nodded, distractedly. Snape saw the dazed look on Potter’s face and frowned. He leaned in and studied how Potter struggled to focus on his face. “Potter, can you see me?”

Potter squinted in his direction and Snape recalled that Potter used to wear glasses. “Were your eyes spelled for the battle?”

“No,” Potter said softly, “they were corrected permanently a year ago, during training.”

“Hmm,” Snape moved forward and looked directly into Potter’s gaze. His magic seemed to leap onto his skin and he stepped back again quickly. “Potter, look at the floor,” he commanded.

Potter complied and Snape moved to look at his eyes once more. Other than the swollen skin around his left eye, there didn’t seem to be any problems. There was only the matter of the magical reaction, then. Snape straightened up. “Potter. Wait here and don’t look me in the eye when I return.” Snape turned around, robes flaring out and he moved across the hall to his lab.

Moving briskly between his various cabinets, Snape considered what would be best and have the least problematic reaction with current circumstances. Finally, he moved to one of his open shelves and picked up a small, clear bottle. He stormed back into the other room without looking at Potter and shut the door. Snape stepped up next to the table and dropped the bottle. The glass immediately shattered and a white vapor rose up around them.

“Keep very still, Potter,” Snape intoned. “The vapor is going to measure your magic.”

“Measure my magic?” Potter asked. “Why would you need to do that?”

“Because apparently you’re leaking, now shut up.”

The vapor around Snape’s feet was a bright blue that expanded around his body a couple of inches. Once the vapor reached the table height, the vapor around it immediately turned a deeper blue. The color rose up around Potter until he was completely covered by half a foot at least. Taking up his wand, Snape dispelled the vapor and paced away in irritation. Potter leaned up onto his elbows with care and looked over with concern.

“Professor, what’s the matter? What does this mean?”

“It means, Potter,” Snape spat, “that you have far too much magic and it is out of control. If you leave this unchecked, your magic will reach out to other wizards for an outlet and you may very well kill them without meaning to.”

Potter seemed startled by this, but continued to ask, “Where did this extra magic come from?”

“That’s just it,” Snape bit out, frustrated. “It has your signature, otherwise the potion would have recognized the difference and changed. No… it’s just an overabundance, so that’s why you’re unbalanced. Have you taken any measures to improve your core magic?”

“No, the Order and my tutors mostly focused on strategy. We didn’t know of any ways we could increase my power above Voldemort’s.”

Snape paced around the room for a couple more times before settling back in the chair. “Okay, Potter,” he said. “You learned Occlumency, yes?” He watched Potter nod. “Use it now.”

“Okay.”

Snape waited for a moment, not willing to risk his life and magic to know whether Potter had really become proficient. Then he gestured for Potter to look at his face. Bright green eyes sparked and Snape felt a tingle of magic, but less than what he had felt before. Holding that gaze, however, allowed the tingle to grow and Snape looked away.

“I’m sorry.” Snape looked over to see Potter’s face looking dejected. He clenched his teeth at the look and leaned back.

“It means that we need to find another method, that is all,” Snape said firmly. He stood up and paced around again.

Why would Potter’s magic be so expansive? Snape recalled the boy’s abilities while at school were nowhere above ordinary. Although some students went through a growth period during schooling, the professors had always closely monitored it and no rise in magic had ever had such a strong effect. Had Potter gone through some other growth period? Unlikely. This sort of magic was older, and signified something that Potter must have held all of his life. Well the only significant change would be Voldemort…. Voldemort!

Snape whirled back towards Potter. “Potter, you were prone to outbursts of magic at times, were you not?”

Potter looked hesitant, “Yes.”

“What were most of your outbursts based from?”

“What?”

“What caused you to react?” Snape asked, impatient.

“If you mean… I was usually angry, sir.”

Snape took a couple of steps and snapped his fingers irritably. “How, exactly, did it feel when you had these outbursts?”

“I’m… not sure,” Potter said slowly. “It was very strange. All I could usually feel was anger and everything became a blur, really. It felt like…”

Snape took a breath, “Like you were not yourself?”

Potter’s eyes snapped to Snape’s for an instant before he looked away with an expression of fear. Snape watched Potter think over the facts and his eyes widened. Snape nodded.

“It is possible that Voldemort’s soul was acting through you when you did not expect it. Even subconsciously, his soul would be more focused on anger, fear, and hate,” Snape said. He frowned. “But I’ll need to be certain that this did not occur before the Dark Lord encountered you. Have you heard anything of your behavior beforehand?”

Potter shook his head. “No one really knew me before… except…” he looked up. “Maybe Remus would know.”

Snape nearly growled, but knew that the werewolf was probably the best source of information. However, it wouldn’t be wise to move Potter while his magic was potentially lethal. In fact, it wouldn’t be any better for himself to show up in a room full of Aurors. He would have to send a message.

“Dot!” Snape said loudly, startling Potter. She appeared and saw that Potter was now awake. Dot seemed delighted and grinned sheepishly at the surprised-looking young wizard.

“Yes, Master Snape,” Dot turned deferentially towards the Potions Master.

“I’m going to need you to deliver a letter to Madame Pomfrey and Remus Lupin. I want you to make sure that it remains confidential, understood?”

“Yes, Master Snape!” she stood in wait while Snape opened the door and summoned ink and parchment from his lab. He quickly moved over to the table to write, but noticed that Potter still held the house elf’s attentions. With a roll of his eyes, he waved over in Potter’s direction.

“You may talk to him, Dot, but don’t look in his eyes.”

“Thank you, Master Snape!” Dot exclaimed excitedly and turned towards Potter. “Hello, Mister Potter!”

“Umm, hi,” Potter replied with his usual eloquence. Snape repressed a snicker as he wrote, explaining the situation without being too up front.

“Dot is glad to see Mister Potter better!”

“Er, thank you, Dot.” Potter sounded as though his communication skills had not improved much. “Please, just call me Harry.”

Snape could hear the beaming smile in Dot’s voice, “Thank you, Mister Harry! Mister Harry is just as nice as Dot has heard!”

It sounded as though Potter had choked. “Who have you heard about me from?” Snape was almost amused at the curiosity in his voice. Potter didn’t actually think that Snape had spoken well of him, did he?

“Dot speaks to some of the Hogwarts house elves when Dot goes on errands there,” the house elf explained. “Dot has heard Dobby speak very highly of Mister Harry.”

“Dobby is too kind to me.” Potter sounded embarrassed, Snape was surprised to hear. With the typical Potter arrogance he didn’t expect humility. But perhaps he was still recovering.

“Dot, I’m finished.” Snape held out the letter and Dot took it directly and Disapparated. Glancing towards Potter, Snape moved back into the chair and held a hand to his forehead. “It would be best for you to Occlude your mind as best as you are able before they arrive.”

Potter didn’t speak, but closed his eyes and leaned back. Snape sighed silently and also leaned back in wait. Hopefully they could get Potter under control before he flooded completely with magic. Damn Voldemort anyway.

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