A Painful Choice

A/N I wish to thank all those that took the time to read and review. I am grateful for your input and Constructive criticism is always welcome.


Chapter Five

Severus Snape read the all too brief letter from the man he had admired for most of his life. He swallowed thickly as he tried to understand why Albus would believe he was justified in destroying so many lives. The stakes were high, no one, least of all the Snape, would argue that there weren’t many lives on the line, but there had to have been another way. He found that his respect for Harry Potter go up yet again.. He didn’t understand how a boy who had no role models, no family, and no one to rely on could have grown into the noble and strong young man that had offered one of his most vicious detractors the use of his house. He had to resist the urge to follow Harry up to his room. There would be time to talk later. It was unfortunate that the Malfoy whelp was invited to dinner, but there was no use fretting about that which could not be changed.

He had always had a soft spot for Draco, but he was having difficulty getting the picture of him draped all over Harry out of his mind. It didn’t help that the blond brat had smirked up at him knowingly while Snape fumed. He didn’t want to analyze why it had made him so angry. Life was difficult enough without adding unrequited lust into the picture. He looked toward the closed study door and debated the merits of kicking Draco out on his ass for a moment before heading to the library to look into possible reasons for Harry’s fit the night before.

He had made little progress when Dobby came to get him for dinner. He suspected that it had something to do with Albus’ comment about absorbing power from Voldemort, but there was little mention of something like that in the books he had tried. If he didn’t find something soon he would have to pay the old man’s portrait a visit. It pained him to even think of speaking to the man, but he would do whatever it took to make things a little better for Harry. He put aside the book that he was reading and made his way to the dining room.

Draco was already seated and Severus made himself nod in greeting before sitting down across from him. They sat without speaking for what seemed like hours before the younger man finally felt the need to break the uncomfortable silence. “So what did Potter want with you?”

He could hear the venom in Malfoy’s tone and felt an unjustified sense of glee at the realization that he must not feel secure in Harry’s affections if he was jealous of the ‘greasy git’. “I can’t imagine that it would be any business of yours what Harry chooses to share with me.” He tried not to show his pleasure at the frown on the pointy face in front of him.

“Well I hardly think that whatever he shared with you would compare with what he and I shared in the study earlier. No matter how much you might wish that he would, he would see you that way.”

They say that the truth hurts and Snape couldn’t agree more. He knew that Draco was right, Harry would never look at him with anything more than tolerance. He hadn’t even earned that, but it appeared that everything that Voldemort and Dumbledore had put him through hadn’t killed the forgiving nature of the ‘Boy that lived ’. Snape hid his feelings with a sneer. “I believe that he was looking at you with pity and an healthy dose of confusion. I can’t imagine why I would want him to direct those emotions in my direction.”

Snape heard Harry enter the dining room but he couldn’t bring himself to remove his glare from Malfoy. It wasn’t until Harry spoke that he looked up.

“Would it be presumptuous of me to ask what I am interrupting this time?” Harry didn’t look well and Snape watched with concern as he made his way to the table sitting next to the insufferable brat.

If he had been capable of wandless magic, Draco would have been writhing in agony as he covered Harry’s hand and asked if he was okay. Snape could feel the vein on the side of his temple start to throb. He was preparing himself for the inevitable display of gratitude for Draco’s ‘thoughtful ‘ gesture when Harry swayed dangerously and his head made a loud thunk as it hit the table.

Snape’s chair crashed to the ground as he stood and nearly threw himself around the table to reach the unconscious form of the Raven haired young man. He didn’t spare a glance at Draco as he picked up Harry and headed for the Floo. If he had been thinking more clearly he would probably have taken Harry to St. Mungo\'s, but his instincts led him to a more familiar place. “Hogwarts Infirmary” he shouted as he threw in the powder and stepped into the flames.

He let out several colorful swears as no one greeted him. He had forgotten that it was the summer holidays and Poppy would not be there. He carefully placed Harry on the nearest cot and headed to the Headmistresses office. Having no idea what the woman would use as a password, he cast a Sonorus charm on himself and nearly screamed for Minerva.
“Severus?” He could see that whatever greeting she had prepared died on her lips when she saw how agitated he was.

“Please call Madam Pomfrey and let her know that Potter is in the infirmary, and I need to speak to Albus now. Without a word she led Severus up the spiral staircase to her office and went to the fireplace to contact the mediwitch. Severus took a deep breath as he approached Dumbledore’s portrait.

“Severus, my dear boy, how are you?” His eyes twinkled just as they had in life and Severus felt suddenly sick.

“Albus, I am not here for a visit. I read your letter to Potter and I need to know what is wrong with him. He had an episode of incredible pain last night and he passed out this evening at dinner.”

Blue eyes ceased their twinkling and the man in the painting looked somewhere between remorseful and angry. “I didn’t think that he would share that letter. I counted on him to confront me or keep it to himself, it appears that I overestimated him.”

Black eyes narrowed as he valiantly bit off the numerous responses that jumped quickly into his head. “We will discuss your opinion of Mr. Potter’s character another time. Right now you will concentrate on what can be done to help him, or I will find a way to make your afterlife as painful as you made his formative years.”

“Severus, there is no need to get ugly. I had hoped that he would come to see me before it got this bad. His body is fighting the foreign magic that was forced on him. He needs to take a sensory dampening potion so that he doesn’t feel other people emotions so strongly and he needs to get away from magical people for awhile while his body adjusts.”

“Thank you. I will go see to the potion.”

Dumbledore stopped him before he could take his leave. “Will you come back to see me, Severus. We need to talk.”

“I don’t know Albus. I will consider it. Right now I need to take care of the man that set me free from the chains that have bound me for over twenty years.”

He headed to the potions classroom hoping that Minerva would have success reaching Poppy. He stopped short when he saw the changes that three years of his absence had rendered in the environment of his old haunt. It looked almost cheerful in a clinical kind of way. The walls were pure white and the floor was a black and white tile. You wouldn’t even know that you were in a castle. He swallowed his gut reaction and headed to the cupboard to get the ingredients that he would need to brew the required potion.

His jaw dropped when he saw the pitiful condition of the potions stores. Most of the ingredients appeared to be old and in poor condition. You would be lucky to produce first year potions successfully with the contents. He wondered what dunderhead they had teaching potions that didn’t even know how to correctly bottle and store the basic necessities. He moved down the hallway to his former apartment and personal lab hoping that his wards had held.

Sighing in relief he entered his lab and saw that it was undisturbed. He made a mental note to discuss with Minerva her staffing choices as he lit a fire under his favorite cauldron. He could feel the tension drain from his body as he busied himself with his art. He let his mind wander as he ground the root of asphodel into a fine powder. He wondered how long Harry planned to isolate himself and if he could be convinced to allow Severus to supply the potions that he would need. As the potion turned the perfect light blue, he turned off the heat and bottled the result.

TBC