The Iridescent Conclusion

Chapter Seven

Jenna sat alone at the kitchen table and gazed unseeing into the bottom of her tea mug. So far, she was the only one up and about and, wanting to leave Daniel and Alison to their rest for as long as possible, she was down here, simply contemplating whether or not to make another cuppa.

Actually, that wasn’t quite true. She was thinking about more tea but she was also thinking about her sister-in-law and wondering what she was mixed up in. Whatever it was, Alison definitely didn’t want to discuss it. And Jenna was now fairly convinced that it had to be auror-related – something secretive and dangerous. At least, she hoped that was what it was; the alternative suggested that it might be something illegal…

No, Alison wasn’t the sort. She could no more break the law than Jenna could. So it had to be for the MLE, which was a good thing because at least she then had someone watching out for her…or so Jenna hoped.

The next puzzle then was Daniel. Last night, he’d wanted only to sit very quietly and hold onto his sister; not wanting to talk about anything – least of all his unknown whereabouts for the past three days. Perhaps he did have a new lover, Jenna thought with a little smile.

It was strange but, whilst she and Daniel didn’t get on very well, she would be only too glad for him if he’d met a new woman…or even a new man, she added to herself. Good luck to him! As poor Thomas had proven, life was just too short.

A soft footstep sounded on the stairs and Jenna rose from her reverie, looking up to see Alison appear at the end of the hallway.

“Is there any tea going?” she asked sleepily.

Jenna smiled and tapped the kettle with her wand. Decision made.

*~*~*

“Severus,” Dumbledore greeted him gravely when the Potions master knocked once and opened the door to his office, “come in, take a seat. Tea?”

“Thank you, Headmaster, but I won’t.” Snape replied stiffly and took the offered seat. He sat with a straight back, shoulders squared and chin raised; ready to accept whatever Dumbledore decided to throw at him.

The Headmaster sighed quietly and sank down onto his chair. “Severus, you’re no doubt aware that Sirius has made some very serious allegations against you. He is accusing you of child abuse.”

“Harry Potter is not a child.” Snape stated quietly, staring at Dumbledore’s desk. “He will be seventeen in a few months.”

“Indeed. I have spoken with Harry and he insists that you’ve done nothing wrong. It may be, however, that the – ah – events of his abduction have altered his perspective. And so, Severus, I must ask: have you had sexual contact with Harry Potter?”

There was a pause, a moment of almost hesitation and then Snape lifted his head and looked Dumbledore straight in the eye. “No, Headmaster,” he lied, bringing to fore all his powers of Occlumency and hoping that he would get away with it. In the past, he’d successfully lied to Voldemort but he’d never tried this with Dumbledore.

For a second, it seemed that Dumbledore had seen past the lie; his eyebrows drew together and his eyes narrowed slightly. Then, with a sigh, he lowered his gaze.

“But have you acted in a way that would be inappropriate for a professor in this school?” he asked softly.

“Yes, Headmaster, I’m afraid I have.” Snape answered in a low voice, “There was an occasion recently…Harry seems to have developed a crush…of sorts…”

“You acted on this?”

“We…kissed,” Snape shifted uncomfortably. His gaze was on the desk once more and inside his head, away from Harry’s insistent voice clamouring for attention, he told himself that this was for the best. By revealing only part of the truth to Dumbledore, he could hopefully remain at Hogwarts and therefore continue to protect Harry.

‘I don’t need your protection!’ Harry raged telepathically, “I need you. I want you! Why’d you have to tell him anything? Just tell him Sirius had it wrong!’

But Dumbledore wouldn’t accept that, Snape knew. Therefore, he would have to give the Headmaster something whilst hoping desperately that he’d be allowed to keep his job.

“You kissed him?” Dumbledore asked sternly.

“Er…he kissed me,” Snape corrected and met the Headmaster’s eyes again. This time, suspecting that Dumbledore may still wish to use Legilimency, he allowed the memory of Harry’s kiss to rise to the surface of his mind. There, for Dumbledore to see, was the recollection of Harry pressing in for a kiss, of Snape responding and there, when common sense had kicked in, the memory of how he had stepped back and breathed: ‘That would be a monumentally bad idea’.

“So you turned him away?” Dumbledore asked a moment later, having evidently seen all that Snape wished to reveal. At the Potion master’s nod, he then asked, “So what of Sirius’ allegation that Harry emerged naked from your room?”

Careful not to alter his expression, Snape then replied, “Harry has been…persistent…in his – er – attempts, Headmaster. It was unfortunate that Black should arrive at that particular moment.”

“Then Harry hadn’t been…with you?”

“No.” Snape said firmly, “As I said, Black’s timing was unfortunate and so he, of course, misunderstood the situation.”

“And Harry’s reaction?” Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, “I understand from Remus that Harry was prepared to invoke the Soto Suasoria or Imperius curses.”

“I’m sure he was simply alarmed that I might be punished for crimes I hadn’t committed, Headmaster.” Snape lied again. “It surely seemed dreadful to him that I might be penalised when my only crime was failing to convince the boy that his advances were unwanted.”

“I see.” Dumbledore replied levelly. He regarded the Potions master for a long while before reaching out for his teapot.

Pouring himself some tea and offering a cup to Snape, he then said, “Severus, I think I may have made an error in judgement,”

Snape sat up, instantly cautious.

“It seems that, in allowing Harry to live within your quarters, I have inadvertently encouraged him to seeking you out as a potential love interest.”

“Admittedly, though, Albus, when you agreed to Harry sharing with me, he was seeing Draco.” Snape interjected smoothly.

“Hmm…but now Draco has moved back into the Slytherin dormitory and appears to be getting on well with his housemates – especially now that Mr Zabini and his entourage have been expelled.”

Snape inclined his head in agreement.

‘Sev?’ Harry’s voice quavered uncertainly, ‘Where’s this leading?’

“I believe then, Severus, that Harry should return to living in the Gryffindor dormitory. I’m sure that, once he is surrounded by his peers once more, he will forget about this little crush -”

‘NO!’ Harry shout drowned out the Headmaster’s words, making Snape wince with pain. ‘Don’t let him do this, Sev! Don’t send me away! I WON’T GO!’

With the telepathic shout, came a surge of magical energy that shattered Dumbledore’s china teacup in its saucer and splattered tea over the face of the desk.

“Severus?” Dumbledore looked alarmed.

“Harry,” Snape tapped the side of his head, wincing, “isn’t enamoured with that idea.”

‘Enamoured?’ Harry stormed from where he paced within Snape’s living room in the dungeon, ‘I’ll give you fucking ‘enamoured’, you bastard! What the fuck are you doing?’

‘Saving your life,’ Snape growled silently and then nodded as Dumbledore’s words, explaining that Harry’s belongings would be moved directly, washed over his head.

‘Yeah?’ Harry retorted sarcastically, ‘Well, maybe I can take care of myself. Maybe all I wanted was for you to escape trouble? Couldn’t you do that without having me packed up and sent away like a naughty little boy?’

Snape barely managed a coherent answer to the Headmaster’s reassurances that this matter wouldn’t go on permanent record. He nodded as Dumbledore then thanked him for his time and then headed out the door and onto the moving staircase.

‘Harry,’ he responded as soon as he was alone, ‘so long as you’re a student in this school and I am your teacher, we have to abide by a code of ethics. As such, professors CANNOT fuck their students!’ he shouted silently as he strode towards his office.

‘No,’ Harry’s voice came back very softly, ‘I guess you’re right.’

The voice wasn’t right. Unable to pinpoint quite what was so wrong, Snape opened his office door and, with a sense of foreboding, hurried through to his living quarters. “Harry?” he called in alarm.

He was just in time to see Harry dissolve into mist, just as he’d done once before.

“Damn it!” Snape exploded angrily.

Harry, it seemed, was gone.

*~*~*

Within the Slytherin common room, with Greg’s large, muscular arms around his shoulders, Draco attempted to have a conversation with his boyfriend whilst listening in on Harry and Severus.

“I didn’t know where you’d gone,” Greg said reprovingly. “You could have left me a note or something.”

‘Didn’t you get the letter I wrote on Christmas day?’ Draco wrote with a flick of his wand.

‘Sev?’ Harry’s voice quavered uncertainly, sound hurt and worried, ‘Where’s this leading?’

Draco closed his eyes in sympathy and wished that he could be with Harry whilst still being here with Greg.

“I got it,” Greg said slowly in his deep voice, “but I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me in the first place.”

‘There wasn’t time,’ Draco wrote in response, shifting in his boyfriend’s embrace, ‘Snape was in trouble and you know how I feel about him.’

“He’s…like your dad…?” Greg managed uncertainly.

‘My guardian, yes.’ Draco nodded, still listening to Severus’ thoughts concerning Dumbledore’s declaration that Harry should move back to Gryffindor tower. A moment later, he gasped as Harry caught on too and responded with a painfully loud refusal: ‘Don’t let him do this, Sev! Don’t send me away! I WON’T GO!’

“Draco?” Greg looked down into his face, “What is it? What’s the matter?”

‘Harry,’ Draco wrote, ‘I have to go.’

“You want to be with Potter?” Greg repeated incredulously. He lifted his arms from Draco’s shoulders and leaned back, looking cross. “You spent all of Christmas with him, you’ve only just got back and now you want to go and spend more time with him?”

‘It’s not that I don’t want to be with you,’ Draco hurriedly wrote, shifting around to look at Greg face on. ‘But Harry needs me.’

At that point, Harry’s voice exploded within his mind again: ‘Yeah? Well, maybe I can take care of myself. Maybe all I wanted was for you to escape trouble? Couldn’t you do that without having me packed up and sent away like a naughty little boy?’

‘I really have to go!’ Draco got up, dropping the magically scripted words onto the pad. Wishing he didn’t have to, he then ran out of the common room, leaving Greg looking stunned and unhappy.

As he hurried up the corridor, he sent urgent thoughts to his former lover. ‘Harry, hang on! Don’t blow up at Sev – he’s just doing what he thinks is right.’

‘Draco, he’s just agreed to ship me out of here. He wants me out. I thought he was just going to convince Dumbledore that we hadn’t done anything but now he’s getting rid of me. How stupid was I?’ Harry fumed.

‘You’re not stupid and Sev doesn’t want you to go anywhere. He loves you, you know that,’ Draco responded, letting himself into Severus’ quarters.

Catching a mental image of Severus on the stairs coming down from Dumbledore’s office, they then heard the Potion master say, ‘Harry, so long as you’re a student in this school and I am your teacher, we have to abide by a code of ethics. As such, professors CANNOT fuck their students!’

‘No,’ Harry’s voice came back very softly, ‘I guess you’re right.’

Feeling the stir of magic, realising what Harry was about to do, Draco took a couple of steps towards him; even as he heard Severus charging towards them.

“Harry?” Severus’ voice cried out.

The door opened and Severus appeared, looking anxious and annoyed. Before either of them could stop Harry, though, he vanished into a pale grey mist.

*~*~*

“Gone?” Sirius exploded, springing to his feet, “Gone where? What did you do to him, Snape?”

With the Headmaster behind him and therefore quite unable to see his expression, Snape smirked, just to annoy Sirius.

“Siri, this isn’t helping!” Remus cut in, shooting Snape a glare. He turned then and looked at Draco, “Do you know where he is?” he asked with exquisite patience.

Draco shook his head, though and looked to Snape. ‘I can’t reach him any more than you can. I heard the row, understand why you said what you did but you have to see that Harry wouldn’t necessarily understand. You hurt him; he thinks you don’t want him.’

For a moment, Snape looked stricken as he recalled allowing Dumbledore to send Harry back to his house dormitory and then fighting with him.

‘Harry,’ he sent the thought out yet again, ‘I’m sorry.’

No response came back, though.

“Draco can’t reach him,” he told the others heavily with a sigh. “I’ve tried a Hunter spell – it worked before – but wherever he is, he’s not on the Hogwarts grounds.”

“A Hunter spell?” Sirius growled, his eyes cold, “So you’ve lost my godson before then?”

Snape ignored that, however, and turned to look at Dumbledore. “Headmaster, I’d like to extend the search as far as Hogsmeade, Dovetown and Grassham.” He requested politely in his smoothest voice. “Harry was upset and no doubt felt that he needed time away from the school to calm down.”

“He no doubt needed time away from you, you dirty old man!” Sirius spat vindictively.

‘Actually,’ Draco wrote, ‘Harry’s upset because Severus informed the Headmaster that Harry’s in love with him. He’s embarrassed, I think – especially as Severus doesn’t return his feelings.’ He added, twisting the truth with disquieting ease.

“Doesn’t return -?” Sirius shook his head in disbelief, “You’re saying that there’s never been anything between you and Harry?”

Severus drew himself up to his full height and looked disdainfully down his nose at Sirius. “I wouldn’t say that I haven’t grown…fond…of Harry,” he said cautiously, “but, as Draco just wrote, I don’t return his more…intense emotions, shall we say?”

As he said it, as the words left his mouth, so there came a shift within his mind. Almost like a breeze stirring the tips of his eyelashes, the sensation was so slight that he might have missed it if Draco’s eyes hadn’t suddenly widened, indicating that he too had felt it.

‘Harry,’ Draco said silently, looking alarmed. There was, however, no response from their cohort and now Remus was talking again so there was no chance for Snape to pinpoint his lover’s location.

“Severus, I’m sorry, I’m just a little confused. Harry told me that he loved you, we saw him emerge naked from your own bedroom and he quite clearly had a love bite on the side of his throat. If there’s nothing untoward between you, can you explain any of this for us?”

Snape cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. “Harry was…persistent…in his attempts to…ah…”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Snape. The boy obviously isn’t thinking clearly!” Sirius barked sharply.

‘The love bite was from me,’ Draco wrote, the flick of his wand tense and agitated. It was perhaps not the smartest lie he’d ever told and may even have disastrous consequences if Greg ever heard about it. Right now, though, the important thing was for everyone to stop arguing and go find Harry.

‘I don’t want them to find me,’ Harry’s voice sounded quietly within his mind, giving him a start.

With a careful glance to Severus, Draco saw that his guardian was smirking at Sirius again and clearly hadn’t heard Harry’s words.

‘We’re worried about you,’ he responded, deliberately blanking Severus.

‘I’m fine.’ Harry replied repressively.

‘You’re not,’ Draco countered, turning away from the argument that had just started between Sirius and Severus. ‘Where are you?’

There was a long pause and then, sounding tired and aggrieved, Harry replied, ‘Hogsmeade. There’s a cave up in the mountains on the other side of the village. Sirius stayed here once. You can’t tell them, though.’

‘Harry, don’t be an idiot! They’re worried about you!’ Draco snapped, almost letting his words reach Severus as his temper got the better of him.

‘Severus,’ Harry snarled, ‘thinks I’m a child! He probably regrets ever getting involved with me and wants me out of his rooms, out of his bed and out of his life!’

‘No,’ Draco gave a little shake of his head, absorbed by his silent conversation and unaware that Snape had noticed. ‘Harry, he does love you – you know he does! But if he’s to protect you, to stay here at Hogwarts and continue with your training, he has to hold onto his job. Therefore he has to convince Dumbledore that there is nothing going on. But Harry you have to know -’

‘- that I love you.’ Severus finished, having guessed at Draco’s conversation and pushing his way into the telepathic link.

The connection unfortunately broke and only silence came back.

“Severus?” Dumbledore enquired, his words soft in the stinging silence.

Ignoring Lupin and Black, Snape then snapped to attention, gave a sharp nod of his head and said quietly, “I need to go – alone!” he cast a baleful glance at Sirius, “Albus, let me go. I’ll bring him back, I promise.”

“No way!” Sirius shouted, looking incensed, “I don’t trust you, Snape!”

“Sirius, that will do,” Dumbledore rebuked, halting the man’s assault. He turned then, fixing Severus with bright blue eyes. “If you are sure that he will listen to you, then go.” He nodded soberly.

*~*~*

Alone in the cave, Harry huddled deeper into his cloak and stepped further in against the wall, trying to keep out of the icy draught. His impulsive (and foolhardy) flight from Severus’ quarters had led him here with half-formed ideas of leaving school so that Severus would have no excuse to finish with him.

Now, however, staring out at the bleak Scottish countryside and shivering, he was starting to experience the first intense feelings of acute shame and embarrassment. He’d behaved like a child; storming off in a huff like a girl and he couldn’t honestly see that his behaviour would earn him anything but contempt in Severus’ eyes.

‘You’re wallowing in self-pity, Potter,’ Draco’s voice filled his head. ‘Sev doesn’t think anything of the sort – he’s just worried, that’s all.’

‘You’ve said,’ Harry retorted flatly.

‘So believe me,’ Draco replied simply.

Harry shook his head and sighed, sliding down the rough-faced wall to rest on his haunches. He pulled his sleeves down to cover his frozen hands and then wrapped his arms around his body.

‘It’s still over, though, isn’t it?’ he thought unhappily. ‘I’m still being moved back into Gryffindor, I won’t be able to spend time with Severus like before…’

Silence answered him, although he was certain that Draco had heard him. He stared down at the dirt floor and thought about his lover and the tangled complicated relationship with Draco. Severus was simply wonderful in Harry’s eyes: mean, cantankerous, snide and occasionally evil, Sev might be, but Harry also saw the patience, the wisdom and the subtle, careful way in which he loved.
But would things have been simpler if he’d remained with Draco? Certainly, Sirius wouldn’t have thrown a fit over finding him with Draco, he thought bitterly.

‘Actually,’ Draco’s voice came to him once more, ‘in case you missed it, I told Sirius and Lupin that the love bite on your neck was from me. As far as they’re concerned, there’s nothing between you and Severus.’

‘Well there isn’t now,’ Harry retorted moodily, pushing himself to his feet again. ‘And besides,’ he added, ‘I think it might take more than your say-so to convince Sirius. He can be incredibly focused!’ He paused for a moment as he moved once more into the light spilling into the cave. The tallest trees within the Forbidden Forest scratched with bare branches at the uncaring sky.

It was over. Even if Draco kissed him in the Great Hall, filled his mouth with his tongue and bent him over the teacher’s table, he doubted if Sirius would give up the notion that Severus was interfering with his beloved godson!

‘Thank you anyway,’ he said finally, feeling as if his heart was made of lead.

‘Harry?’ Draco’s voice sounded concerned.

He attempted to respond, even turning his head towards the instinctive direction, but his thoughts were suddenly choked.

‘Harry?’ Draco demanded again, sounding really anxious now.

Again, Harry tried to respond – to speak aloud even – but found that he couldn’t. He was losing control! Now he couldn’t even open his mouth!

‘Hello, Harry,’ a new voice purred malevolently. ‘How very interesting! I wonder how long you’ve had this particular ability? Telepathic communication is so useful, don’t you find?’

Voldemort, his mind screamed. Voldemort! Voldemort was talking to him along the same links with which he communicated with Draco and Sev…

‘Yes,’ the voice continued, ‘how is my old friend? I’m sure he’s quite distressed with you right now, isn’t he, Harry? You shouldn’t be out and about, all alone! Who knows who might find you?’

By some enormous effort of will, Harry stopped staring out of the cave entrance, stopped thinking about his location at all and, in fact, started to recite simple maths equations.

‘I’ll find you eventually, Harry,’ Voldemort sounded amused. ‘One little slip and I’ll find you!’

’12 multiplied by 15 is 180,’ Harry chanted, ‘180 divided by 6 is 30, 11 multiplied by 18 is 191…no, 198,’

‘I almost had you there!’

Harry shook his head with a struggle and gritted his teeth, falling back on random numbers and fractions. ‘137, 6093, 3/8, 7/18, 27, 41, 892, SEVERUS!’

‘Harry!’ came the alarmed yell, drowning out Voldemort’s voice for a moment.

‘A race then,’ the Dark Lord crowed. ‘Whoever finds you first, Harry, gets to keep you!’

Harry shook his head, tearing himself free of the cloying, strangling bonds of Voldemort’s mind. It hurt - it physically hurt – but, having wrenched himself free, he found that he suddenly had much more range of movement.

Careful to keep his mind off his current location, he then summoned Caramon to his side; struggling to ignore the memory of when he’d last tried to use the beast against Voldemort.

“Ien vra, cra sciendra,” he panted, fighting to remain on his feet. The effort was enormous and sent rivers of sweat down the side of his face in the cold air. “Lo siff y ren, mia kre portos.”

Caramon bulked, large and intimidating; drawing on the magic from Severus and Draco and telling Harry…

Severus was close! Draco must have told him where he was hiding!

‘I see you!’ Voldemort shouted gleefully, ‘You didn’t stray very far, did you, little Harry? Who will reach you first, I wonder? Or shall I maybe send something to intercept dear Severus?’

“NO!” Harry shouted aloud, summoning and pushing a vast wall of energy down the connection. His last recollection as the effort pulled him headlong into unconsciousness, was of a despairing, agonised shriek. For the life of him, however, he couldn’t tell if it was Voldemort or Severus.

*~*~*

Sirius paced back and forth across the guest room that he shared with Remus. Hogwarts, he decided, had no right to be this quiet. When were the kids coming back from their Christmas holidays? Why weren’t the teaching staff having wild and raucous parties if there were almost no children to supervise?

“Siri, please,” Remus implored softly. He was sitting at the small table with an assortment of food, trying to encourage Oscar to eat something. Oscar, however, was too busy watching Sirius.

“Si-wi walking,” Oscar observed matter-of-factly.

“Siri is pacing,” Remus corrected. “He’s doing it because he’s worried but he doesn’t realise how annoying it is.”

“Pacing.” Oscar nodded sagely and selected a cake, by-passing the sandwiches and fruit entirely. Such was Remus’ pre-occupation with his lover, that he failed to notice.

“Where is he, Moony?” Sirius demanded, flinging himself onto the sofa. “Why’d he take off like that? And why the hell,” he growled, “hasn’t Albus fired that bastard’s arse out of here?”

“Perhaps Severus really hasn’t done anything wrong?” Remus suggested mildly.

Sirius just scowled but at least, Remus thought, he’d stopped the endless pacing.

“Siri, you know as well as I do, that no one can get one past Albus Dumbledore. It simply isn’t possible!”

“Well, we’d like to think that,” Sirius shrugged.

“You have to trust him,” Remus said, not sounding terribly fond of the idea. “Trust that he trusts Severus, even if you can’t trust Severus yourself.” He paused then and looked to where Oscar was reaching for his second chocolate cake. About to object, he then sighed, shook his head and placed some pieces of apple and banana in front of the child; hoping that they might get eaten as well as the two cakes.

“And Harry quite clearly despises me!” Sirius declared, moving on to his next concern.

“He doesn’t,” Remus shook his head. He stood and moved round to sit on the arm of Sirius’ sofa. Stroking his lover’s hair, he murmured, “Harry is just going through the mill, right now. By all accounts, he’s very confused – fooling around with Draco, trying to seduce Severus,”

Sirius shuddered.

“And he’s still trying to deal with all that’s happened to him,” Remus continued. “Just give him a bit of space, Siri.”

“Moony?” Sirius sighed, lifting his face with a pleading expression.

Remus bent to rest a kiss on Sirius’ mouth and then kissed him again, lingering and teasing with the tip of his tongue. “It’ll be okay,” he breathed against his lover’s lips.

“Sticky,” observed Oscar, holding up half of a very squashed cake and a fistful of banana.

Sirius started to laugh, having leaned around Remus to look at the small child, but was distracted as a swift dart of white light flew out of the fireplace.

“Sirius, Remus, the hospital wing. Now!” Dumbledore’s voice demanded urgently.