Ashes of Armageddon

Severus grabbed a hold of Harry, who was still screaming, and shaking furiously. Severus covered his mouth with his hand and held him tightly, until the last of Harry\'s cry died, buried in Severus\' hand, and silence followed instead.



“Harry, do you understand what happened?” Severus asked softly.



Harry nodded, just once, apparently unable to speak. His entire body was trembling, as if it had just been pulled out of freezing water.



Severus sighed slightly and took a hold of Harry\'s shoulders. With a few gentle nudges, he led him out of the horrifying room, and into the shower, pushing him inside. They were both fully dressed, and Severus did not bother disrobing them, just turned the water on, and allowed the hot streams of it to envelop them both. He winced slightly at the stinging on his chest, but focused his attention on Harry for the moment.



Harry\'s eyes were closed, as he stood under the water that was pouring down on him. Carefully, Severus washed the traces of blood from his hands, and then, reached to Harry\'s chin, and lifted it, to wash his face. Harry followed his direction without protest, presenting his face to the hot water, slowly, very gradually, his body began to relax.



They stood under the hot water together in absolute silence for what seemed like a good hour.



Severus never took his gaze off Harry; watching him with dread. Finally, he saw that tears were flowing from Harry\'s eyes, mingling with the water.



“Harry,” Severus called out quietly.



“What have I done,” Harry whispered, without opening his eyes. “How could anyone do that? What have I done? How could you let me come back, after what I\'ve done?”



Severus grabbed his shoulders firmly.



“Harry, it wasn\'t you. Do you understand that?”



Harry shook his head, his eyes still shut.



“Harry,” Severus said as patiently as he could. “While it might be very difficult to understand, mentally and emotionally you are seventeen years old, with five years\' worth of Tom Riddle\'s memories in your mind. It\'s not an easy thing to accept, I\'ll grant you that – but the last five years... and especially the last several weeks... well, it was not you.”



Harry sucked in a furious breath and exhaled sharply.



“It WAS me,” he said vehemently. “I remember DOING it. I remember WANTING to do it. It was a part of me. It was me. I did this to you. I would have killed you. I would have killed others. It was me. I remember.” Harry opened his eyes finally. “I remember everything.”



Severus allowed himself a very slight sigh.



“We will discuss this later, when the shock of the transition has lessened,” he said unhappily. He shut the water off, and guided Harry to step out of the shower. Quickly, he cast drying spells on both of them.



Harry was clinging to him, and as soon as they stepped out into the hallway, began shaking furiously again.



And then, Severus found himself losing what little remained of his patience.



“Stop that this instant!” he demanded furiously, grabbing Harry by the scruff. “While I appreciate the Gryffindor need to wallow in guilt, like it or not, you have things to do. Your friends are still in Azkaban, and so is my godson. The Wizarding World is a dictatorship, under your control, or have you forgotten that, too? You have a lot of work to do, before you can allow yourself to come apart and indulge yourself, Mr. Potter.”



To his surprise, the ungentle admonition achieved its desired effect. Slowly, Harry pulled himself together, and looked to Severus painfully.



“I know,” Harry said. “Just tell me what to do.”



For the next three hours, Severus was prodding and prompting him, as Harry was following his directions automatically, making firecalls, giving orders to multiple Ministry officials. In truth, Severus was not entirely surprised by Harry\'s reactions; in fact he was only surprised that Harry was able to function at all, having spent five years sharing his brain with the active soul-fragment of Tom Riddle. Severus wondered briefly as to why he himself was still functioning as well, rather than curling into a dark corner to lick his wounds, metaphorically speaking.



Finally, in late afternoon, Ron and Neville Apparated to Godric\'s Hollow, and another hour later, following an emergency press release, Hermione followed, with Hugo in tow. It took a little bit longer to free Draco, but eventually, Draco appeared at Godric\'s Hollow as well, and rushed to Severus, hugging him, thanking him tearfully. For a second, Draco looked like he was about to thank Harry as well, but Severus ushered him quickly out of the house and told him, with just the slightest contemptuous smirk on his lips:



“Draco, may I suggest that you go home, lead a very quiet and peaceful life, and never again try to poison Harry Potter, no matter how strong the temptation.”



Draco did not need to be told twice, and fled before anyone else could speak to him.



Afterwards, the six of them, counting Hugo, sat down together at Harry\'s dining room table, and talked. Severus told them the highlights of the King\'s Cross experience, while Harry nodded absently to confirm the story.



“Well,” Hermione said softly and hesitantly. “Is this a sure thing?”



“The soul-fragment of Voldemort has been destroyed,” Severus told her. “Your friend is himself again. As much as possible, under the circumstances.”



Ron nodded. “What about others?” He asked. “Oliver, George, Lee, Percy, Kingsley? And the rest? Are they still...”



Harry spoke up quietly to answer him: “As far as I understand, all of this... dust is gone. I don\'t think it could survive without the core of it... that lived in the primary host. Me. Though we should still check on them all.”



“Good,” Neville said quietly. “Hermione, you have the basic psychopathy tests at St. Mungo\'s, don\'t you?”



“Sure,” she murmured.



“I want you to run Harry through them. Make sure that he\'s back to normal. Some deep Legilimency scans would be a good idea, as well.”



Harry nodded in agreement. “Anytime.”



“The sooner the better,” Neville said bluntly. “Because Ginny\'s new home is protected by Fidelius, and she will not be coming back, until I am completely satisfied you are safe for her.”



They all looked at him speechlessly, and Severus rewarded him with a single slightly raised eyebrow.



“Well,” Severus mused. “At least this time around, one thing was done right. She made an excellent choice in picking you as her Secret Keeper, Mr. Longbottom.”



“Agreed,” Hermione said. “Well, next order of business. Harry, your post as the Minister of Magic.”



“I\'m resigning,” Harry spat furiously. “First thing tomorrow morning, as soon as the Ministry re-opens for business.”



“Thank goodness,” Ron said with relief. “First normal thing I\'ve heard you say in the last five years.”



“And undoubtedly, the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my entire life,” Severus said dryly. “But why let that stop you?”



Everyone stared at him as if he had sprouted a pair of horns.



“What on earth are you talking about?” Neville spat. “After all this? He needs to step down.”



“Of course he does,” Severus said tiredly. “Just not immediately. Need I remind you that the Wizarding World is currently a dictatorship? If he steps down right now, what do you suppose will happen?”



Blank stares were directed at him. Severus winced, as he had obviously underestimated the naivety of the Gryffindors once again. Their good intentions aside, they had no concept of damage control that needed to follow a political crisis.



“It will create a power vacuum,” Severus said very tiredly, but with all the patience he was still capable of. “Someone else will swoop in, and take over. Do you really want Lucius Malfoy, or someone of the sort, to step in and take advantage of the immense power that is now centralized in the hands of the Minister of Magic?”



“Right,” Hermione said unenthusiastically. “So how do we deal with it now?”



“Harry needs to begin releasing political power. I suggest beginning by setting up an advisory board that will equally co-share the power currently invested in office of the Minister of Magic. You three will be on that board to start, and then, you should consider adding some others as well. Eventually you will need to set up a solid structure in place, with checks and balances that will prevent the Wizarding World from falling into a dictatorship again.”



“You,” Ron said instantly, interrupting him. “You need to be on the board...”



“Not a chance,” Severus said with unmasked disdain. “I will provide consultation as needed, but I will not be involved in the foul details of it. I have enough blood on my hands, and I do not intend to add a layer of filth, on top of that.” Noticing that Harry was beginning to nod off, Severus stood up abruptly, and went to the kitchen, to get a vial of Dreamless Sleep potion.



“Upstairs,” he told Harry in no uncertain terms. “Sleep.”



Harry complied mindlessly. They entered Harry\'s bedroom, and Harry sat on the bed, staring at his hands, as if not recognizing him.



“Lie down,” Severus said quietly. “I am going to give you some Dreamless Sleep potion. I suspect you will need it tonight... and possibly for many nights to come.”



“What about you?” Harry whispered. “You ... are you going to sleep?”



Severus shook his head. “I have taken an alertness potion that will keep me awake for another day and a half. I\'ll sleep later.” He handed him the vial. “Drink.”



Harry shook his head. “I should...”



“Listen to what I am saying, and do as told, until you are able to think clearly on your own,” Severus snapped at him unkindly. Harry drank the liquid without further objection, gave the vial back, and stretched out on the bed.



Severus got up and was about to leave, but Harry\'s hand caught the sleeve of his robe. He froze slightly at the sensation of being stopped, but then turned around and looked at Harry.



“What?” Severus asked, freeing his sleeve from his fingers.



“I know I have no right to ask for anything,” Harry muttered, drifting off to sleep. “But if you are able... can you stay, just for a minute?”



“If you like,” Severus found himself saying. He sat on the bed next to him, and Harry grabbed his scarred hand impulsively, holding on to it, pressing it to his chest.



“Forgive me,” Harry whispered. “Please... one day... someday... I\'ll do anything for you, anything at all, anytime... Forgive me, if you can... even if it\'s years from now...”



Severus sighed and stroked his hair awkwardly. He would have said something, but Harry was already sound asleep, holding on to his hand.





... To Be Continued ....



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