Bonds of Affection

by Williamson, Kingsley and Tonks. They reached a set of massive steel shiny doors that opened of their own accord, revealing a large grey room with soft light pouring from the ceiling.



“Step inside, please,” Williamson said impassively.



Harry ignored him, and looked at Tonks instead.



“Tell me what to do,” Harry asked her. She returned his gaze, looking more miserable and less sure than he had ever seen her.



“Go inside. The doors will close once you are in. They will not re-open until the spell had run its course. The Fiendfyre will be cast through the ceiling – you will see it coming. I am not sure what else to say.”



“That\'s enough,” Harry said quietly, and went inside. He then stepped away from the doors, which closed instantly, separating him from the rest of the world. He walked around the room, and finally, sat down on the floor, and waited.



He did not need to wait long.



With a loud hiss, streams of fire poured from above almost immediately, morphing into shapes of winged serpents, flying towards him.



When the first shape touched his face, his body and mind shuddered in protest. The fire was alive – it was aware of him, and it was reaching for him, treating him with all the hostility and vehemence and fierceness that had been intended for Voldemort by those who had cast the spell.



Tonks was right. The spell had not been modified as they had hoped. The fire was not seeking out and destroying some dark part of him – it was trying to destroy Harry himself – all that he was. He could feel the fire\'s determination – but still, against the agony and terror, he tried to force himself to surrender to it, with all the resolve he had left.



X x X



In a bright flash, Severus and Albus Apparated inside a brightly lit hallway at Azkaban.



“Where to now?” Albus asked instantly.



Severus pointed ahead. “Fifty feet.”



They Apparated again, coming face-to-face with a team of Aurors, who stood by a massive metal door with their wands drawn. Severus recognized Kingsley and Tonks instantly.



“Where is he?” Severus demanded.



Tonks looked at him in terror. “You are too late,” she whispered. “The spell had been cast.”



“He is not Voldemort\'s Horcrux. Open the door!” Severus demanded.



“We can\'t,” Tonks said in absolute terror. “No-one can, until the spell runs its course.”



“OPEN THE BLOODY DOOR!” Severus shouted on top of his lungs, grabbing Tonks by her throat. She made no protest.



“What she is saying, Mr. Snape, is that it is impossible to open the door,” Williamson said in a distant voice. “And I would advise you to stand down, because...”



“Albus!” Severus shouted, released Tonks, and spun around – but Albus Dumbledore was already gone.



Severus swore and pulled out his wand. Assisted by both Tonks and Kingsley, Severus continued to cast one spell after another at the damned door that never budged, and never responded to any of them.



Having run out of spells, Severus gazed at Tonks again. “What spell was cast on him?” he demanded.



“Fiendfyre,” she said quietly. Her voice shook noticeably.



He glared at her in disbelief. “You would kidnap a sixteen year old boy, and burn him alive, in order to save your little wizarding utopia?” She stared back pitifully. Her lips moved wordlessly, but no sound came out. “I congratulate you, Miss Tonks. You just brought Voldemort\'s way of life back. Because this isn\'t Light. What you have done is something else.”



X x X



Harry had not moved when the fire finally engulfed him. The heat was blinding, surreal, tearing him apart. The large red serpent coiled around him, and poised itself to strike.



Then, it struck out – but came to a halt, a hair-width away from Harry\'s face, as if it was frozen in mid-air, as if restrained by an invisible force.



Harry saw a faint shimmer of energy, as if creating a shield around him, and holding the serpent at bay. Right next to him, within the shield, stood Albus Dubmledore, measuring him with his eyes.



“Harry,” Dumbledore asked. “Do you know where you are?”



“Azkaban.”



“Very good, Harry. Do you know what moment this is?”



Harry shook his head. “Moment?” he repeated, and looked around himself, seeing the shapes of winged serpents, still, caught in mid-movement. “The moment of my death? Or just before?”



“Yes.”



“What did you do?” Harry demanded. “Why isn\'t anything moving?”



Dumbledore smiled a little. “I froze it all. For a while.”



“You froze what... fire...? no... you froze time!” Harry gasped. “How?”



“Magic,” Dubmledore said peacefully. “Now, Harry – do you know why I am here?”



“To take me home.” Harry guessed. “But...”



“That\'s right,” Dumbledore said with kindness in his voice. “But for some reason, I am unable to move you out of this moment. It appears that this predicament is one of your own choosing.”



“Yes,” Harry admitted readily. “I came here on my own. I am a Horcrux. I can\'t leave. I need to die.”



Dumbledore was saying something else to him, but Harry could not see his lips when he spoke and Dumbledore\'s words never reached him.



“Harry,” Dumbledore said. “There is a reason you should live. Because of the nature of this moment, you are unable to hear me say it – but please – just trust me. You should come back.”



“I can already imagine what that reason is,” Harry said bitterly. “That someone loves me and wants me back... even if I am Voldemort\'s Horcrux..”



Dumbledore\'s smile was both painful and unreadable.



Harry smiled a little as well. “You\'ll have to do better than that, I\'m afraid.”



Dumbledore spoke again, but once again, the words he uttered were lost between them.



“I just tried to explain, but I am magically and physically unable to do so,” Dumbledore said softly. “You see, this is – a pivotal moment. A moment when time stands still. No new information that can affect your decision may flow into it. It has to be a choice you make with absolute freedom, without coercion – either by physical force, or force of facts.”



“I can\'t leave,” Harry repeated.



“Why not, Harry?” Dumbledore probed with extreme gentleness. “Tell me.”



Harry shook his head. Dumbledore did not press. For what appeared like the longest stretch of time in Harry\'s memory, they sat together on the grey floor, each deep in his own thoughts.



“Too afraid...” finally Harry whispered in a barely audible voice. “Too afraid...that\'s why.”



“Afraid. Of what, Harry?” Dumbledore asked.



“Voldemort... what it means... if he comes back... It\'s darker than you think... you have no idea, what it\'s like. Those two day with Voldemort – with them! ... you have no idea...” Harry was barely able to speak, as memories flooded him and terror seized him. “You would think it should be better, or easier if you go with someone else, but it\'s not... it\'s worse... you keep holding on to each other, because you feel like you are the last two people left in the entire world, but you are afraid to fall asleep together, because you don\'t know if he\'ll still be there when you wake up... you are afraid to fight back when they come to take you – because if you do, he will pay the price... And then, when he looks at you, you know that he\'s afraid to cry, afraid to say anything kind, and even afraid to touch you, because if he does, they\'ll either take you away from him, or do something worse... and all you do is wait, and play along, .. until you are just puppets on strings... and you start thinking you aren\'t real, and nothing is real... and the pain... what Lucius did to him... ” Harry sniffled quietly and buried his face in his knees. “I wouldn\'t mind so much, if it was just me. But... what if Voldemort returns again... and somehow, lays claim on his Dark Mark again, and Severus has to go through something like this again... it\'s too much... just too much... Don\'t ask me to go back, and live, and make something like that possible again. You can\'t. You don\'t have the right.”



Harry cried quietly then, even as the frozen flames stood still all around them, and the invisible boundary shimmered in the air.



“I can\'t,” Harry repeated softly.



Dumbledore nodded his head sadly



“I understand,” he said, but without accusation.



Harry watched, with his eyes wide open, as behind the invisible boundary, the flames began to shimmer again, very slightly.



“I am really sorry,” Harry whispered.



“Don\'t be,” Dumbledore said peacefully. “I am not surprised. It was, as they say, a long shot. These... pivotal moments... almost never work out.”



Harry looked at him in wonder. “Those moments... they are like... second chances?”



Dumbledore nodded slightly.



“You... you have created moments like this before?”



Dumbledore was nodding his head again. “Many times, Harry. For many people. But so few recognize them, and even fewer, take advantage of them. In fact, in the last three decades, only one person had recognized such a moment, and reached out to seize it.”



Dumbledore said something else, but once again, Harry could not hear him.



Harry bowed his head, deep in thought. Then, suddenly, he remembered Pettigrew\'s words:



I was given to understand that when your father and Severus tried reconciling in Dumbledore\'s office, they ended up fighting worse than ever. With James driving Severus right into the Dark Lord\'s fold.



“My mother,” Harry whispered. “She was the one, wasn\'t she? She was the one who recognized the moment... but my father and Severus hadn\'t... and ...”



Dumbledore nodded again.



“My mother,” Harry repeated. “How well did you know her?”



“Well enough,” Dumbledore said.



“If it was her in my place... just now.... would she just go with you? Based on your word alone... without explanation, without a reason?”



“On my word alone, she might not have,” Dumbledore conceded gently. “But, if she had James waiting for her out there, wishing for her to come back, she would have. I am confident of that.”



Harry shut his eyes. The fiery wings of the serpent were trembling slightly, as if ready to burst into movement at any moment.



“He\'s really waiting for me?” Harry asked quietly. “Just a word away?”



“You know that he is.”



Harry bit his lip. Believing – knowing - that his Master was only a moment away, just a word away, should have changed nothing, but changed everything.



Finally, he uttered that word:



“Severus.”



And that was enough.



X X x



Severus and Tonks were still staring at each other silently when Albus Apparated next to them, holding Harry by the shoulders. Harry looked dazed, disoriented – but other than that, he appeared to be unharmed. At once, Severus rushed to touch his cheek. Harry was flushed with fever, but he smiled at the contact. “Master,” Harry said quietly, burying his face in Severus\' palm.



Williamson pointed his wand at Albus and opened his mouth as if to utter a spell, but Albus Dumbledore lifted his hand and shook his head slightly.



“Don\'t even think about it,” Albus said gravely. “Right now, I am of the mind to cast an Unforgivable on the whole lot of you, and trust me, you do not want to find out which one.”



Tonks looked at Albus absolute wonder.



“Sir... how.... what did you do... what are you?”



“Just an old man with too much time on his hands,” Albus chuckled. “Now, if you don\'t mind, I am going to take my two favorite students home.”



To Be Continued...



Author\'s Note: Well then. What did you think? :-) If you\'ve made it this far, I hope it was worth it (was it?). Next chapter coming soon.... stay tuned.