Bonds of Affection

It was dark; but he realized that he had stopped falling. He was lying on the ground, on his back, breathing deeply. Pain was gone, but utter darkness surrounded him.



He heard a faint familiar voice in the distance, singing softly:



Long nights allow me to feel

I am falling

I am falling

The lights go out

Let me feel

I\'m falling

I am falling

safely to the ground



The voice got closer and he recognized its owner.



I\'ll take this soul

that\'s inside me now

Like a brand new friend

I\'ll forever know

I\'ve got this light

And the will to show

I will always be

better than before





“Miss Lovegood,” he said.



“Not really,” Luna murmured. “I keep telling you, I am not her. I am just a part of your own mind. The part of your mind that knows death.”



“What happened?” he asked.



She laughed with warmth in her voice. “You fell safely.”



He attempted to sit up, but her hand on his shoulder stopped him. “I wouldn\'t move if I were you. It\'s dark here. It\'s neither life nor death. You don\'t want to be lost, do you?”



“No,” he agreed in a quiet way. “I thought I would see someone... anyone. Where is everyone?”



“Ah,” she whispered. “The dead. They are near. Always near. You can\'t hear them, can you?”



“No.”



“I can,” she told him softly. “They have so much to say.”



He shifted slightly, but her hand stilled him again. “Don\'t move,” she said with kindness. “Be still. Don\'t wander off.”



“Who is here? What do they say?”



Her silver laughter rang in the darkness. “Everyone is here. Everyone is speaking, Severus. Your parents, Lily and James, Sirius and Remus... And so many more. All the people who ever loved you, or were meant to, but never did. So many voices, so many messages...” Her voice trailed off and faded away.



“Tell me,” he offered.



“Shhh,” she whispered, pressing a finger to his lips. “I am trying to find the one you need to carry back.”



He waited patiently, until she finally spoke again:



“The message for the three: Use his Boggart against him; Look into his mind; Memorize his curses; Accept his servant\'s offer, for the two are expecting the third.”



Severus sighed. “More mysteries. Have you ever considered just... speaking clearly and unambiguously?”



She appeared to be deep in thought, and for a moment he wondered if he had offended her. But then she answered him: “There is a benefit to puzzles. They focus the mind, and instill faith. People rarely follow clear, unambiguous instructions. If you want something to be seen, you should hide it. If you want something done, you need to put it in a riddle.”



And then, as if to emphasize her point, her delicate, small fingers touched his open unseeing eyes.



Vision returned suddenly, as if a burst of white light blinded him. Severus blinked furiously, and focused his gaze on the face that was hovering above him.



“Harry?” he asked with hesitation “Harry!” Severus grabbed his hands.



Harry nodded furiously, as their fingers locked in an unbreakable grip. “Severus... how are you feeling?”



Severus considered the question carefully. “Alive,” he said, absolutely astonished. He moved slightly, finding himself covered with his own robe. He wrapped it around himself fully and closed it, trying not to feel too disturbed by the realization that his naked, bleeding, bruised, lifeless body had just been discovered and healed by three Gryffindor students. Still, he twitched slightly and glanced at Hermione and Ron, who were standing over Lucius\' unmoving body.



“Is he dead?” Severus asked instantly.



“No, just knocked out,” Ron said from the corner. “Do you want us to kill him?” Ron asked the question as casually, as he would if he were inquiring about re-planting a Mandrake root.



“As much as it pains me to say this, no,” Severus told him. “The Dark Marks inform Voldemort when a servant dies.... we don\'t want to attract too much attention to ourselves.”



Harry was watching him with concern. “Severus... Voldemort\'s bond... is supposed to start punishing you now, right? I mean.. you are outside of his household? And we healed you without his... permission...”



Severus took a deep breath, and realized to his shock that his body felt surprisingly well. He still had traces of ache where the metal-tipped lash had fallen a short while ago, and a lingering dull pain where the broken bone had been set, but apart from that – he was fine.



“Presumably, yes,” Severus admitted. “But I feel no discomfort, or any indication that anything of the sort is about to happen. I have a vague feeling that when my so-called Master had chosen to strike me with the Killing Curse, he in fact, terminated the bond. Speaking of which – how did you bring me back? It should not have been possible.”



“We don\'t know how,” Hermione said. “I\'m thinking - maybe... Is it possible that Lucius didn\'t really mean it, when he cast the Killing Curse? Maybe in the last split-second, he felt guilty – or... hesitated?”



Severus said nothing to that, but chuckled in amusement at the sentiment. Harry was hugging him tightly, but as Severus looked around, he realized quickly that their time was running out.



“Whatever we do, we must act at once,” Severus said, freeing himself from Harry\'s embrace and standing up abruptly. “Lucius is expected to return to the castle at any moment, after .. putting me down, so to speak. Voldemort is inside, so is Nagini, and incidentally, I believe that Voldemort has my wand on his person.” Which makes me absolutely useless, he almost added, but didn\'t. “We need to decide whether we retreat, and wait for the Order to arrive, or go in after Voldemort and Nagini right now.”



“We go in now,” Harry said decisively. “This may be our only chance. If they suspect something is wrong, if they flee now, we may never be able to track them down again. How do we get in?”



“Once the lockdown is in place, nobody can enter or leave,” Severus said. “The lockdown will only be lifted if an authorized person is about to enter. Sadly, I am no longer... authorized.”



Ron shuddered slightly. “So.. do we wake Lucius and put him under Imperius?”



Hermione shook her head with regret. “I knocked him our pretty good. Used some spells that won\'t respond to Rennervate, and will have to wear off on their own. Should take about an hour or so...”



“We don\'t have a bloody hour!” Harry snapped irritably. “We have a few minutes...”



“Okay,” Hermione murmured, pacing around nervously, glancing at Severus. “So.. Invisibility Cloak will mask us from Surveillance spells, but won\'t grant us access... Polyjuice doesn\'t work, does it? Voldemort\'s spells can see through it?”



Severus nodded.



“Transfiguration, then,” Hermione said. “If I am able to Transfigure Harry into an exact duplicate of Lucius, he should be able to gain access to the castle.. in theory.”



“In theory,” Ron repeated venomously. “Why does this not instill any confidence in me?”



She glared at him. “I can do it, you know.”



“No, you can\'t,” Severus said, more irritated with her than he ever had been in his entire life. “Even animal transformation is extremely dangerous. There is a reason that there is only a handful of registered Animagi in the entire wizarding world. And actual transfiguration into another human form is near impossible...”



She stared at him defiantly. “I\'ve always had top grades in Transfiguration!”



Severus felt an urge to begin tearing at his hair from frustration. “This isn\'t Hogwarts, miss Granger! This is real life. You can end up scrambling all of his internal organs into a quiche, while bleeding yourself of all of your magical energy for a month, if not longer...”



But Harry was already delirious with hope. “You really think you can do it?” he asked. “Hermione?”



She nodded. “Though I have to warn you: I can only maintain it very briefly...”



Harry looked at her with suspicion. “How briefly?”



“Well... fifteen seconds,” she said reluctantly. “Maybe twenty. I\'ll transfigure you as we are about to enter. As soon as you enter the castle, you\'ll have to hide under the Invisibility Cloak with the two of us... and hope nobody notices.”



Harry nodded. “Severus,” he asked quietly. “You\'ll... watch Lucius, right? Won\'t let him wake up and alert Voldemort, or anything like that?”



“Not to worry, Harry,” Severus said absently. “Even if all the binding and stunning spells wear off at once, now that neither of us has a wand, it\'ll be a fair fight.”



“ A fair fight?” Hermione smirked. “Now, that\'s just boring.” She reached into one of her pockets, clearly spelled with the Undetectable Extension Charm, and produced something that almost, but not quite, looked almost like a... Muggle firearm, Severus realized with a start. Hermione just gave him a satisfied grin. “Capture gun, loaded with tranquilizer darts,” she said smugly.



Severus nodded, returning her smile. The trio of friends headed out towards the door. At the exit, Harry turned around, as if on impulse, and looked at Severus. “Is there anything else we need to know before we go in?”



Severus remembered instantly then.



“A message for the three of you. From someplace else.”



To Be Continued...



Author\'s Note: The song is by Eddie Vedder, and you can hear it in the movie “Into the Wild”.