Proof of Life

The Seeker and the Snitch



The crowd, surrounding the Quidditch stadium was enormous. People were forming multiple lines, waiting to pass the obligatory security check at the gates. The precautions reminded Harry of those in a Muggle airport – every single arrival was scanned, and at times searched. Few expressed offence at such treatment, and were turned away from the game without apologies.



Severus seemed to have fully recovered from his illness, but still, Harry found himself wondering if there was a way to skip the lengthy wait and proceed directly to the seating area. He turned around to look for Ron, who noticed them and approached them right away.



“Hey there,” Ron said, pre-empting Harry\'s question. “Can\'t let you in without a security check. I can take you to the VIP entrance though, come with me.”



Harry and Severus followed him to a much shorter line.



“Sorry,” Ron said, giving them a rueful smile. “Rules are rules. Nobody gets in without being scanned.”



“Nobody?” Harry teased. “Even Diggory himself had to go through the security check-in?”



“Yes. He didn\'t mind. Sets a good example for everyone and such.”



“What are you looking for, anyway?” Harry asked as Ron and two Aurors began casting diagnostic spells on him and Severus.



“Just making sure that nobody is bringing in any dangerous artefacts or substances,” Ron said. “Or Muggle weapons, for that matter. We\'re also checking everyone for a Dark Mark – no offence, Professor.”



“None taken,” Severus muttered under his breath.



“There\'s a complex network of wards to separate the Quidditch pitch from the stands, and another one, around the perimeter of the stadium,” Ron continued. “The equipment station and players\' lockers are heavily guarded as well: only the players and a select few of the security personnel are allowed in.”



“Do you think the Underground might try something?” Harry asked.



“I doubt it,” Ron replied confidently. “There hasn\'t been any terrorist activity for months I wasn\'t bragging the other day when I said that the Underground is just about done for. They most definitely don\'t have the manpower to do anything big at the moment. Still, it\'s the most attended public event of the year, so it doesn\'t hurt to be careful... and look at that, we\'re done. You are clear to enter.”



Harry nodded. Just as he and Severus were about to enter the gate leading to the stadium, Amos Diggory approached them, accompanied by a small group of Aurors.



Instinctively, Harry reached for Severus\' hand and their fingers locked together. Severus\' expression remained pointedly indifferent, but Harry could tell his tension was mounting.



Diggory looked at Ron. “How is it going?”



“Good. Sir, are you sure it\'s wise for you to be making a public appearance?”



“Why wouldn\'t it be? It\'s safe, isn\'t it? After all, you\'ve taken every security precaution imaginable.”



“Yes, but...”



Diggory shook his head.



“Ron. I realize that we haven\'t won the battle quite yet, but we\'re close, you\'ve said so yourself. If I start hiding now, start avoiding public appearances, then it\'ll be a defeat in itself. They won\'t drive any of us into hiding. We won\'t let them,” Diggory said, staring at Severus point blank. “You\'re allowing him in?”



Ron shrugged, feigning indifference.



“Is there a reason I shouldn\'t?”



“For crying out loud, Ron, he\'s one of them! I certainly hope he isn\'t carrying a wand, or if he is, you\'ll make him surrender it for the duration...”



Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Severus\' right hand balling up into a fist.



“He will not be surrendering his wand,” Harry interrupted, eager to put an end to the ridiculous confrontation. “He\'s with me. If you try to take away his wand, we\'ll all leave.”



“I daresay, Harry, the game can proceed just fine without you watching it,” Diggory quipped at once. “Then again, if you choose to associate with the Death Eaters and...”



“I don\'t think you heard me,” Harry cut him off. “If you insist on confiscating Severus\' wand, my family and friends will all leave the game. Including Ginny.” Harry allowed himself a small nasty smirk. “How well, do you reckon, the team will fare without her as Seeker?”



Diggory looked at him disgustedly. “You\'re bluffing.”



“Try us.”



For a few seconds they stared at each other, neither willing to budge. Eventually, Diggory gave Harry a small nod and shrugged.



“Just remember, Harry. Due to your unique legal arrangement,” Diggory said, the taunting in his tone obvious, “you\'ll be held personally accountable for anything your protegé does. For your sake, I hope you have him under control.”



Severus\' fingers dug into Harry\'s hand. For a brief horrifying second, Harry thought that the provocation was going to be too much for Severus to ignore. But much to Harry\'s relief, Severus didn\'t even look in Diggory\'s direction.



“We probably should get going,” Severus said, turning to Harry. “It\'s not a good idea to upset the Minister further. He seems to be unusually fragile today.”



Harry chuckled quietly, and they walked past Diggory hand in hand, making their way to the seating area near the Quidditch Pitch.



Their arrival caused a wave of excitement. The Weasleys, Marietta and Luna, Hanna and Neville were standing up to greet them and guide them to the two seats reserved for them next to Molly and Arthur. Even Percy gave them a quick nod and muttered something almost friendly to Severus. Lily jumped off her grandmother\'s lap and ran up to Severus, demanding to be picked up. It took Harry a considerable amount of time to coax her to return her to Molly, Severus observing all of it with a wry smile.



Eventually, Harry took his seat between Severus and Hermione, leaned back and smiled. He had already managed to put the confrontation with Diggory out of his mind, and by the looks of it, Severus had as well. The conversation with Ron had done wonders to lift Harry\'s spirits. Perhaps there were no quick fixes to the Underground problem, after all. Maybe it\'d be resolved in due time, not through some revelation or insight, but through persistence and hard work. After all, they\'d been at it for the last seven years, and even though progress was slow, it was finally looking like things were beginning to go their way.



Ginny, all flushed with excitement, in bright Quidditch getup, made it into the stands to say a quick hello before the game. Harry grinned at her.



“Ready to play?”



“Uh-huh.” Ginny tousled Lily\'s hair absently. “You came.”



“Just like I promised I would.”



Ginny gave him a friendly smile. “Where are my flowers?”



“Growing in our garden,” Harry said, without missing a beat. “Seemed a shame to cut them down.”



“Yeah.” Ginny took a deep breath and bit her lip.



“Anxious?”



“Just a bit. Viktor has been training like crazy for the past few months.”



“That won\'t matter,” Severus spoke up suddenly. “If statistics of former games are any indication, you still outclass Krum by a fair margin. I suggest that you get out there and catch that Snitch, so we can all go home.”



Ginny gave a nervous laugh.



“Well, thanks for that.”



She departed, giving Lily a small kiss, and a few minutes later the two teams made it out onto the Quidditch Pitch, hopping onto their brooms to face each other off.



Shortly, the Snitch was released and soared upwards, Ginny and Viktor taking off in pursuit.



Hermione tapped Harry on the shoulder and handed him two pairs of binoculars, one of which he passed on to Severus.



Viktor was playing aggressively, but he seemed to be out of luck – the Snitch veered off from him several times, avoiding capture. Ginny almost made a catch twice, each time missing the Snitch by the smallest of margins, but she seemed to be getting closer with every attempt.



Harry\'s heart was racing wildly, almost as if he were out there himself. He\'d nearly forgotten how much fun it was to watch the game and cheer for the players. He was about to cheer when Ginny made a mad dash for the Snitch once more, when he felt Severus\' hand seek out his and squeeze it tightly.



“Something is wrong,” Severus said in a barely audible voice.



“What?”



“The Snitch is behaving oddly. Observe its trajectory.”



Harry squinted at the tiny golden dot in the sky.



“So, what\'s the problem?”



“Statistically speaking, the Snitch seems to favour Ginny,” Severus said after a short pause.



“Are you saying Ginny is cheating?” Harry asked, mildly affronted by the suggestion.



“No, of course not. But somebody is.” Severus set his binoculars aside. “Somebody really wants her to catch that Snitch.”



Harry felt a chill run down his spine. Ron had said that the Underground didn\'t have the manpower to pull off anything big at this time, but perhaps they still had the resources to stage something small. Snitch-size small.



“We\'ve got to stop the game,” Harry whispered back. “I\'ll go find Ron...”



“There isn\'t time. Can you disable the wards between us and the Quidditch Pitch?”



Harry stared at him. “Not a good idea, Severus. First of all, every alarm in the stadium will go off if I do that. And at least, this way, whatever\'s about to happen out there will be contained in the pitch, and not hurt the spectators.” He cast a sideways glance at Lily, who was sitting in Molly\'s lap, a bright smile on her face.



Severus nodded reluctantly. “Granted. Can you bypass the wards? Create a small gap, a temporary one? Just enough for someone to get out there?”



“I can try.” Harry frowned, considering the nearly impossible task posed to him on such short notice.



“Do it,” Severus ordered, sounding short on patience.



Harry nodded and pointed his wand at the invisible barrier separating them from the Quidditch Pitch.



His heart was pounding wildly: he knew he was racing against time. Previously he\'d managed to do complex charm work at home, recovering and restoring the old wards at Godric\'s Hollow, as well as rewriting someone\'s surveillance network, established around his house. However, in all those instances, he had had hours or even days at his disposal, and he had never had to work at disabling the security protocols of his own people. Though having helped design most of those protocols was definitely a bonus, Harry thought ruefully.



Hermione gave him a quizzical look. Harry nodded to her, and she didn\'t press for immediate explanations, but simply moved forward, so as to shield Harry and his actions from the view of others.



Harry was grateful to her for her instant trust as never before.



He cast a few diagnostic spells to identify the failsafe spell in the ward network. A few minutes later, he was able to isolate it and rewrite it, allowing temporary entry into the Quidditch pitch.



“All right,” Harry said eventually, his heart racing. “There\'s a gap in the wards. It\'ll last for about a minute or so. But the players are out of spell reach. Now what?”



Saying nothing, Severus rose to his feet. There was but a blur of motion, too fast for human eye to identify as human form, as he flew upwards.



Harry held his breath.



Severus was moving at a seemingly impossible speed, mere seconds later crossing the border between the spectators area and the Quidditch Pitch, heading towards Ginny.



o-o-O-o-o



It probably took the Aurors guarding the stadium a good ten seconds to react to Severus\' intrusion into the airspace of the Quidditch Pitch. He couldn\'t make out the words, nor could he tell whether anyone was following him. Even if they were, it made no difference now – broomless flight was faster by a fair margin, and Severus had a head start. He stared ahead, his eyes focusing on Ginny, oblivious to everything other than the Snitch she was chasing.



The golden wings fluttered a few feet away from her. He called out to her, demanding to leave the Snitch alone, but Ginny had already struck out to reach for it. Her fingers barely touched the Snitch – Severus made a desperate lunge himself, grabbing a hold of her, and locking his arms around her.



Ginny screamed as Severus pulled her off the broom and away, turning them around in the air so that they were facing away from the Snitch. He managed to do so just in time; a split second later the Snitch itself exploded, transforming into a giant fiery sphere, burning shards flying off in every direction.



A wave of heat engulfed them, and Severus sensed, rather than felt, several sharp impacts against his back. He tightened his grip on Ginny, and attempted to regain control of the flight. For now, they were both falling at an alarming speed, following the direction of Ginny\'s broom, plummeting to the ground beneath them.



The pain from the puncture wounds caused by the burning fragments came then. Dark spots danced before his eyes, growing larger, obscuring his vision. Severus bit into his lower lip, forcing himself to remain conscious, guiding the flow of magic to at least slow down the fall, if not to direct the flight. He could feel Ginny\'s elbows pressing down on his arms, helping him keep his hold on her.



He succeeded, he must have – because they didn\'t crush into the ground – they tumbled onto it awkwardly. Ginny recovered almost instantly and leapt to her feet, her wand drawn. Severus made an attempt to stand up, but the fresh wave of agony twisting his entire body made it impossible. He remained on the ground, taking short laboured breaths, fighting to remain conscious. From his position he could see the feet of people running towards them.



He heard Harry\'s voice call out his name and hoped that Harry would be the first to reach them.



To Be Continued...