Bonds that Tie

A/N Please don’t kill me! I know it took awhile to come out, and it’s shorter than normal, but the next part decided it didn’t want to be written. So here it is. What there is of it anyway. I’M SORRY!!!!

Disclaimer: Not mine, but then you all knew that already right.

Much thanks goes out to Periculum for all her help with Betaing this chapter. Any mistakes after she was done with it are mine.


Chapter Four.

~back to the present~

Severus watched as whatever Harry said in the silence of the privacy bubble seemed to pull Lucius from his almost comatose state, and felt relief wash through him. “Thank Merlin,” he whispered, not realizing that he had spoken out loud. As the bubble came down, Harry's next words, for some reason, filled him with both a sense of dread and joy, at the implied threat and promise in the Gryffindor's voice.

When Harry slipped into a healing trance with Lucius, Severus had known that his job now was twofold. One to protect the two on the sofa from any threat that may show up, and also to add his own magic and strength to Harry’s should the teen’s own begin to fail. With his focus so intent on the two on the sofa, he knew immediately when Harry released his hold on the wards, in order to bring his full power to the matter on hand, so unlike the others he was not surprised when both Albus and Poppy appeared in the room.

Poppy took in the situation with a single glance and pulled her wand to monitor the condition of both. She had barely taken the second step towards the pair, when a crushing grip held her back. “Release me, Severus!” she hissed.

Shaking his head, Severus instead pulled her away. “Anything you cast at them may very well cause Mr. Potter to attack,” he told her calmly, though the tightness around his jaw belied that calmness.

“I would never do anything to hurt that young man!”

Hermione, seeing that the Professor was not going to say any more on the subject, stepped in. “With all due respect, Madam, we all know that you would do nothing to hurt either of them, but the Professor is correct. As far down as he is, Harry will not recognize what is being cast or who the caster is.”

Ron nodded in agreement. “There is perhaps only one person who would be able to get anywhere near him at the moment, and that's Professor Snape. There is a very good reason we get him to wake Harry up when necessary, as Harry usually attacks first and asks questions later.”

Turning to the Headmaster, Poppy raised a single eyebrow in question. “Albus?”

“I think, my dear, that you should remember young Harry's reactions while in your care during the summer after his fifth year,” Albus replied thoughtfully.

Any response that was coming was cut off when Harry convulsed, wrestling a whimper of protest from Lucius. Severus, without thinking, had his wand out and started to cast diagnostic spells over the duo, proving both Hermione and Ron correct in one regard. Dropping his wand when a strong pulse of uncontrolled magic throbbed through the room, he started to curse. “Damn him, he's coming into his inheritance. He should have known better.”

“Professor,” Hermione questioned softly, “did anyone tell Harry what would happen?”

All the adults stood still as they processed that information, Albus paled and sat down weakly in a chair, while Poppy let her legs fold under her right where she was standing. “I never thought about that,” she whispered.

“Neither did I,” Remus echoed.

“I don't understand,” Ron said, “Shouldn't he have gone through this already? I mean I came into mine at midnight on my birthday; so did Hermione and the others in our year.”

“No, Mr. Weasley, he shouldn't have,” Severus commented softly. “For those who are more powerful, their full power comes in at the moment of their birth, not just the day.”

Draco, his features turning grayish in color, looked up at his godfather. “Can't you separate them?”

Growling low in his throat, Severus shook his head. “No. To do so would cause permanent damage to both of them.”

Another pulse of magic had both Harry and Lucius convulsing this time, and everyone could see the struggle and pain Harry was going through. Gasping slightly, Harry managed to get his muscles to relax enough to speak. “Sev'rus! Help me!”

Not even thinking about the consequences, Severus started towards the pair, only to be stopped by a strong hand on his arm. “Think about this first, my boy. We could lose all three of you,” Albus stated.

Snarling softly, Severus removed his arm from the older wizard’s grasp. “I have been protecting him for most of his life. I'm not going to stop now.”

Being careful not to touch Harry just yet, Severus gathered Lucius into his arms and moved him, and therefore Harry forward enough to slip his body beneath the other two, and pulled Lucius back so that he was cradled against his chest. Closing his eyes briefly in a silent prayer to any deity that may be listening, he placed his hands over Harry's and allowed the magic to take hold of him, and formed an anchor for Harry to brace himself against.

Time stopped having meaning for the three men, as the magic swirled around and through them, marking the two older men in ways that outwardly would not show, but to their inner selves would be immediately noticeably. The changes going on in the younger wizard showed for all to see, as the magic delighted in making new paths and changing old ones. Slowly the magic flowing through him to the others calmed and finally stopped, and only gentle waves continued to crash through Harry, and would for awhile longer.

Five hours after Severus joined the other two, his eyes fluttered open and a low groan alerted the others to his waking. They immediately set forth to move the other two men so he could get up.

“No,” he croaked while tightening his grasp around the two men in his arms. “Don't move them.”

The hands stopped trying to move them, allowing Severus to relax his grip slightly. A cool glass of water was pressed to his mouth, and he gratefully allowed the liquid to soothe the rawness in his throat, the faint aftertaste allowing him to identify the painkillers mixed in with the water.

“Why can't we move them, my boy?” Albus asked gently.

Swallowing slightly, Severus opened his eyes fully to look at his mentor. “A bond of some sort was created between us. It needs to stabilize or Harry could lose his mind.”

Hiding his astonishment, Albus nodded his head in understanding. “Alright, then it's probably easier to leave you here, instead of moving you somewhere more comfortable,” he murmured, taking out his wand in order to transfigure the sofa into a bed for the three men.

Before Severus could warn the older man not to perform any spells on the three of them, a clawed hand lashed out and gripped Albus' wrist before the older man could cast any spells, drawing a slight amount of blood; Severus immediately started stroking a hand through the unruly dark hair of the younger wizard. “Calm yourself, Mr. Potter,” he ordered. “The headmaster is not going to harm any of us.”

The hand gripping the headmaster's wrist relaxed slowly before letting go completely, but one slitted green eye opened to watch the older wizard carefully as he incanted the spells that would make the sofa more comfortable for the three of them. When the wand was put away, Harry closed his eye once again, and settled back down to sleep, a low growl that could almost be called a purr issuing forth from the young man as his hair continued to be stroked.

“Remarkable.”

“Indeed,” Severus replied.

“Go back to sleep, my boy, I'll ward the room so no one can disturb you. I'll also warn anyone not to cast anything near him while he is not fully awake.”

“I'm sure most of his friends know that already, but thank you anyway, Albus,” Severus replied softly, closing his eyes to join the other two in sleep once again.

~~hp~~

The next time he opened his eyes, Severus knew that something was wrong. A faint shiver in one of the forms using him as a pillow clued him in to what it was. “Lucius?” he whispered.

“Severus? Where are we? What happened?” a breathy voice asked, as Lucius desperately worked to calm himself.

“We're safe at Grimmauld Place. I brought you here to Potter to be healed. Some of the training that he's had centered on nerve and mind damage. I believe that we all forgot that it was his 17th birthday, and while he was in trance with you, he came into his inheritance.”

“Is that why I feel like I've gone one on one with a dragon protecting her eggs?” Lucius questioned, finding himself starting to calm down.

“More than likely. Either from that or from what the Dark Lord did, but I'm more inclined to believe it was from the magical backwash we both went through, since I pretty much feel the same.”

“Both of us?”

“He needed an anchor, and I was it.”

“You always save him, don't you?” Lucius asked softly.

“Since before he was born. He only came to truly know that last summer though.”

“Why?”

“When I found out that the Dark Lord was going after the Potter family after hearing part of the prophesy, it was out of love for one of my best friends. When he entered school it was out of duty to the life debt I owed his father. During his fifth year, I was forced to teach him to occlude his mind. During those lessons, I learned more about his home life then he ever wanted anyone to know, and that duty became more of a mission to protect him from those who he shouldn't have to fear,” Severus explained.

“His family?”

“I at least had my mother to temper what my father was like. He had no one,” Severus explained softly, knowing that Harry would never tell this information without being forced, and that Lucius would need to know it due to the bond that they all now shared.

Lucius shifted slightly, going over the new information about one Harry Potter. Sighing softly, he inclined his head in understanding of the trust just given him, on Harry’s behalf. Feeling the small form draped partially over him stretch slightly and wiggle to curl up between himself and Severus, he chuckled, and the soft purr of contentment from the teen shocked him just a little. “He sounds like a cat,” he said, letting one hand rub circles on the thin back.

“Complete with claws, and slitted eyes,” Severus commented softly.

Grey eyes met black in astonishment. “He came into a creature inheritance?” he questioned. “Do you know what kind?”

Shaking his head, Severus allowed a small smile to play across his lips. “I have no idea, but I think that it won't be anything normal, considering who it happened to.”

“Indeed.”