Ashes of Armageddon

Little Children



It was quite late when Severus and Harry finally made it back to Hermione\'s and Ron\'s place. Hermione and Ron were already there, and so was Neville. They had already finished dinner, but that was fine, as Harry and Severus both were too wound up to eat.



“Where\'s Hugo?” Severus asked, noticing the absence of Hugo\'s coat and boots by the door.



“At Ginny\'s,” Hermione explained happily. “The boys were playing really well together, and Al begged for Hugo to come and spend the night. Kreacher was watching Hugo while you two were meeting Ginny and Al in the park. Speaking of which, how did the visit go?”



Harry shook his head mutely, not lifting his eyes. Hermione watched him with concern.



“Harry, what happened?” she asked in a soft voice. “Harry?”



“Al speaks Parseltongue,” Harry said numbly, sitting down at the kitchen table. “He... kind of... snapped at Severus, and ran off.”



Neville sat down as well, looking a little ill.



“Oh dear,” Hermione murmured. “Well, what was it that he said to Severus in Parseltongue?” Her hands were shaking slightly as she went to the stove, and proceeded to make tea, which now appeared to be her automatic response in times of trouble.



“He said, stay away from me, and then he ran,” Harry said.



“But he didn\'t threaten me,” Severus mused. “Or did he?”



Harry glanced at him bitterly. “Severus, he is five years old. Dust isn\'t sentient, but it\'s not stupid, either.”



“You really think it\'s the Dust?” Neville asked in a choked voice.



“What else could it be?” Harry demanded. “All the signs are there. He\'s afraid of me, Severus, Hermione, and Ron.”



Neville nodded dejectedly. “Me too,” he whispered. “Whenever I come to visit Ginny, he just runs and hides. I kept hoping maybe he just didn\'t like me ...” Neville\'s voice trailed off and he blinked furiously. “I\'m sorry,” Neville whispered abjectly.



“What are you sorry for?” Ron demanded, and then stared at Neville grimly. Neville gave no answer.



“You knew, didn\'t you?” Ron spat. “You knew Al spoke Parseltongue, you suspected that Al has Voldemort\'s Dust living in him, and you\'ve said nothing?”



Ron\'s face hardened, as he was staring at Neville intently.



Neville stood up abruptly. “I gotta go,” he said softly, but Ron would have none of it. He grabbed Neville\'s sleeve, and forced him to sit down again.



“Why didn\'t you tell us?” Ron demanded.



Neville shook his head. “Ron... I couldn\'t. I\'m her Secret Keeper. I know what it looks like, but... she begged me not to, and I couldn\'t betray her confidence. Do you think it\'s been easy for Ginny? Every day, she\'s watching him like a hawk, questioning every little thing he does, or every little thing he says, trying to figure out whether she\'s dealing with her son, or a part of Tom Riddle living in him. Ron, I know that he is potentially dangerous, but... the fact is, he\'s just a child now, he\'s a good child, he hasn\'t done anything wrong yet, and he doesn\'t deserve to be ... treated like he\'s baby Voldemort. Every morning Ginny wakes up terrified that someone\'s going to find out.. .whether the Ministry of Magic, or the former Death Eaters, who will try to swoop in on him and grab him, if they think he\'s the Dark Lord incarnate ... and every day, she\'s afraid he\'s going to turn into what Harry used to be, and she might not be around long enough to stop him.”



“It must be terrifying,” Hermione mused.



“Ginny should have told us,” Ron insisted stubbornly.



“I thought so too,” Neville admitted. “I insisted on it, but ..she wasn\'t ready to tell... and... I really didn\'t know what to do. I mean.. any course of action seemed wrong. Keeping quiet seemed wrong, but...I\'m her Secret Keeper,” Neville repeated stubbornly, “and I couldn\'t...”



“You couldn\'t,” Ron repeated incredulously, “you selfish...”



“Enough,” Severus interrupted him bluntly. “Neither catastrophizing, nor laying blame is appropriate or helpful at this point. Neville did the best he could, in a highly ambiguous and extremely difficult situation.”



“I agree,” Hermione said instantly, setting cups on the table, and beginning to pour tea for everyone. “We don\'t need to start panicking just yet. We\'ve got time...”



“It only gets worse with time!” Ron didn\'t quite yell, but was dangerously close to it. “And tonight, Hugo is staying at Ginny\'s place, with that... thing!”



“Wait a second,” Harry interjected in a soft voice. “Al isn\'t a thing....”



“Ron, honestly,” Hermione murmured. “Please, get a grip on yourself. Al is five years old, he has no wand, and he\'s not a bad child. He\'d never been cruel to animals, or other children to my knowledge. Hugo stayed with Ginny and Al overnight more times than I can count, and Al had never been anything other than absolutely gentle with Hugo...”



“Just like Harry was gentle with Hugo, just up to the day he kidnapped him?” Ron shouted. “Hermione, please! Our son is staying with someone possessed by Tom Riddle, and you are telling me this is somehow all right?”



Hermione glared at him, and for a second was about to offer a spiteful retort, when Severus interjected quickly.



“Stop right there,” he said. “So far we are operating on a hypothesis, which may or may not be accurate.” He turned to Neville. “Could you go and pick up Hugo at Ginny\'s place first thing tomorrow morning?”



“Of course,” Neville said quietly.



“Go tonight!” Ron demanded, and leapt to his feet, his hands clenching into fists. “In fact, give me Ginny\'s address, and I\'ll go myself.”



Neville\'s face froze into a hard mask.



“Ron, I won\'t break the Fidelius,” Neville said bluntly. “You can ask me to do anything, but don\'t even suggest that I do that. I haven\'t broken it in five years, and I\'m not about to start now.”



“Right, because it\'s more important that you feel good about yourself than keeping my son safe!” Ron slammed his fist against the table hard. “Hermione, talk some sense into him!”



“Well, Ron, I don\'t think that Neville should follow in Pettigrew\'s footsteps, and break the Fidelius,” Hermione said icily. “All this hysteria is absolutely unnecessary. Al loves Hugo. And besides, Al is five years old. He\'s a child. He\'s tiny. He\'s got no wand. Even if he has some sort of evil inclination, really, what can he do?”



Ron shook his head stubbornly. “I don\'t want Hugo staying with him,” Ron repeated a little calmer this time. “Neville should go and pick him up immediately.”



Hermione was shaking her head sadly. “What, and make Al feel like a complete freak, leading him to believe that he\'s not good enough for his cousin to be staying with him, because he speaks Parseltongue? Ron, this kind of rejection could very well push Al the wrong way. The boy needs to be loved, and taught what love is, now more than ever.”



“Right, so let\'s just coddle him and pretend nothing is wrong, and maybe it will all just go away,” Ron said venomously.



“Well what do you suppose we should do, Ron?” Harry snapped suddenly. “Burn him at stake, or drown him?”



“Harry, please!” Hermione cried in exasperation.



“You are unbelievable,” Ron said to no-one in particular, but for the moment it seemed to be directed at all of them. “Four and a half years, and you have already forgotten everything.”



“I didn\'t forget anything,” Severus spoke quietly. “However, I tend to agree with Ms. Granger. Hysteria is not very helpful to current situation. Mr. Weasley, you seem to be upset by the suggestion that Al deserves to be treated with affection and consideration, so what do you suggest we actually do with him?”



Ron shook his head in disbelief, and walked out of the kitchen, heading upstairs. A door slammed hard, and Hermione winced at the sound. Across the table, Neville was looking pale as death.



“Now what?” Hermione asked.



Severus answered her, “I believe Harry should apply for guardianship and joint custody of Al, and start co-parenting his son. If, in fact, Al is carrying the remnants of Tom Riddle\'s Dust, it is crucial that the boy has people in his life who can withstand its influence.”



“That\'s a good idea, Harry,” Hermione agreed quickly, and seeing hesitation on his face, added, “it might not have been so three years ago, but I really do think you are well enough now to take on the parenting role.”



Harry nodded thoughtfully. “Ginny might not agree to it,” he said softly.



“I can try and help with that,” Neville offered. “Who knows, she might listen to me this time.”



“I\'ll ask Percy to talk to her, too,” Hermione added. “She really respects him, and listens to him.”



“All right,” Harry said. “Thanks, Hermione, thanks, Neville. I\'ll file the paperwork with the Ministry after the New Year\'s.”



They continued to talk further, allowing their plans to finalize. Eventually, the tension began to dissipate, if only slightly. Even Harry allowed himself to relax a little, and something like hope glimmered in his eyes.



Finally, Hermione went upstairs, while Harry and Severus retreated into the guest room. Neville took the couch again.



Severus climbed under the covers, and waited for Harry to join him. Harry lingered for a few minutes, fumbling with his shirt, and then, his glasses. He was procrastinating, still clearly anxious. Without saying anything, Severus patted the bed next to him, and Harry climbed in, pressing his face into Severus\' shoulder. Severus ran his hand down Harry\'s back. His lover\'s nervousness was almost palpable.



There was nothing that could be said at this point, as no verbal reassurance would be sufficient, or even appropriate.



Without saying a word, gently and slowly, Severus stroked Harry\'s hair, and shoulders, running his hand down Harry\'s back, over and over again, until Harry finally fell asleep under his touch.



Severus himself remained wide awake. The prospect that a five year old child might be a vessel of Voldemort\'s shattered soul-fragment was horrifying. The knowledge that the five year old child in question was Harry\'s own son, was heart-wrenching. Briefly, the memories of the events of Godric\'s Hollow threatened to make a reappearance, but Severus made a conscious effort to set his personal fears and feelings aside, as had always been his habit in the times of crisis. One did not survive through two wars without developing this kind of response. However, in spite of his best efforts, sleep was not forthcoming and Severus simply resolved to relax and rest as much as possible.



At some point, Severus heard slow footsteps, and someone entered the living room.



“Hey, Ron,” he heard Neville\'s sleepy voice. Apparently, Neville could not sleep either.



For a few minutes, absolute silence followed. When Ron finally spoke, his voice was a furious, angry whisper,



“So that\'s what your guilt was all about. You knew the Dust was still around. You knew that Severus would be the first target once it decided to act. And you said nothing.”



“Yes, I said nothing!” Neville whispered back defiantly. “Don\'t you get it? Al is just a child. He\'s five years old. He hasn\'t done anything wrong!”



“You are right, Neville, I don\'t get it at all,” Ron said with surprising calm. “I would have thought that you of all people would remember what the Dust was capable of, and you wouldn\'t want to see a replay of the past. But no... you thought it would be better to just watch and wait, until... until what, Neville? Until Al turned fifteen, and decided to come after Severus with a bunch of Gryffindor buddies? Is that it?”



“Shut the fuck up!” Neville hissed. “You say one more word about that, I\'ll ...”



“You\'ll what, Neville?” Ron challenged. “You want to fight? Let\'s fight! Believe me, I\'d like nothing more than to beat the snot out of you right now. You keeping quiet about something like that is unforgivable. If something happens to Hugo, or Severus, because you\'d kept quiet, their blood will be on your hands.”



“Don\'t you think I know that?” Neville retorted bitterly. “Just like I know that had I betrayed Ginny and Al, it might have been their blood on my hands instead.”



A long silence followed, and finally, Ron stormed out of the living room without saying another word. After he was gone, Neville got up, and from the sound of it, proceeded to get dressed.



Severus sat up on the bed, shaking his head ruefully. By the time he decided to venture out of the guest bedroom and speak to Neville, the sound of the door slamming shut advised him that the young wizard had already left the house.



Discouraged, and slightly dismayed by Neville\'s abrupt departure in the middle of the night, Severus returned to the guest room, and settled on the bed next to Harry. Sensing his movement, Harry stirred next to him, and moved over to welcome him back into the bed.



“I didn\'t mean to wake you,” Severus whispered an apology. Merlin knew, Harry needed all the sleep he could get.



Harry\'s arm reached around him, drawing him into a tight embrace. With a slight sigh, Severus yielded to the comforting warmth of Harry\'s body.



“Didn\'t wake me,” Harry protested. “Still dreaming.”



TBC...

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Thank you all for your reviews so far! Some brief comments/answers:



whitehound: many thanks for spotting those typos! As for Al, I didn\'t mention the color of his eyes yet, but he indeed does have green eyes, and he does resemble Harry. So far it is unclear to the Trio and Severus whether Al is Tom\'s son, or Harry\'s.



Jean Lamb: Yes, Harry and Sev seem to have made it into being a couple, instead of Master/slave, in spite of things going against them... so it seems.



linagabriev: So far we don\'t know whether Ginny is under the influence of the Dust... anything is possible, I suppose.



Thank you again, everyone!



Next chapter coming soon. :)