Breaking the Dark Mark

Disclaimer: Everything herein belongs to JK Rowling, save the plot (and we can all thank keikokin for that!!). No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Once again, I\'d like to thank the lovely Sansa for her fabulous beta work. She was just recently voted Best. Beta. Ever. *hugs and cookies!* Hey everybody!! This is what was tkaing me soooooooooooo long to update my other stories!!! I didn\'t win this category, but I\'ll be posting two more fics from the same contest, so keep an eye out for Draco/Harry and Severus/Remus!! Enjoy and as always, leve me lots of reviews!!! also, if you want me to answer your review, just leave me your email addy, I\'ll just email you guys! Also, I\'ve had several requests to continue this story. I will not be adding any chapters or epilogues or anything. It\'s told the story of how the Dark Mark was broken, and that\'s the end.


\"Again!\" Snape yelled at the young green-eyed man sitting on the floor on his knees.

Harry sat there, panting, trying to regain his bearings. His wand was lying across the room under the massive desk in Snape\'s office. He called the wand as he staggered to his feet. \"Sir, I…” Harry began but was cut off by his professor pointing his wand at him and shouting, “Legilimens!”

Snape gleefully sifted through Harry\'s memories, reliving some of his most humiliating, when he stumbled upon what didn\'t appear to be a memory, but a fantasy.

Harry lay there naked from the waist up. His Quidditch- toned chest glistening with a fine sheen of sweat. He moaned and writhed under a pair of skilled hands.

As they ghosted across his skin, he began to pant. They became harsher as the hands roughly plucked his left nipple. The young man moaned wantonly and thrashed about. A familiar baritone demanded, \"Beg me!\"

\"Pleee…\" his breath hitched as the other hand pinched his nipple. \"Ahh, please! Need you…\"

\"But you beg so prettily,\" the other purred as the hands gently stroked the abused nipples.

Harry\'s cherry red lips parted and he looked at the owner of the hands. “Pleeeeeeeease…\" he moaned.

The hands meandered their way down his torso to the button of his jeans. \"Since you asked so nicely,\" the disembodied voice answered seductively.

Harry screamed, \"NO!\" and with every ounce of will power, threw his teacher from his mind. He would NOT allow the man to see that particular fantasy!

\"My, my Mr. Potter,\" Snape sneered, \"It would seem that I have discovered more than one of your secrets. What would your adoring fans think?\"

Harry stood up, his face red with humiliation and anger. \"Dammit Snape! We have been at this for six weeks now and I still don\'t know what in the bloody hell I\'m doing! Instead of pillaging my mind for any and every memory, why don\'t you explain how I\'m supposed to stop you! How in the hell am I supposed to defeat Voldemort if he doesn\'t give me one moment\'s peace throughout the night? I think you enjoy my torture! You sure as fucking hell aren\'t doing anything but mentally exhausting me, raping my mind for hours and calling it Occlumency!\"

Severus looked at the irate young man, chest heaving, and anger radiating from his whole body. \"Are you quite finished now, Mr. Potter?\" he asked silkily.

Harry glared at his professor. \"If I weren\'t, you\'d stop me, so I guess I am,\" he snapped.

\"Good,\" the taller man smirked. \"Now, that will be twenty points from Gryffindor for your outburst, another twenty for your language, and fifty for accusing me of enjoying your nightly torture from the Dark Lord. You get nothing less than any of his followers.\"

Narrowing his eyes at the dark wizard Harry replied, \"Except I don\'t willingly follow him.\"

Snape grabbed Harry by the front of his robes and pushed him roughly against the nearest stone wall. \"You know nothing, child! Get out of my presence now!\" he said in a dangerously low tone.

Harry pushed him away and stormed through the dungeons. He stomped through the portrait into the Gryffindor common room and straight up to his dorm. Hermione and Ron tried to stop him, but could see that he was furious. They left him alone until the next morning when he answered all of their questions over breakfast.

Two evenings later found Harry back in the dungeons for his Occlumency lesson. Again Snape gave him no instruction, but proceeded to viciously rape his mind. Finally, Harry had had enough. He waited for the assault and began to fight back with just as much fervor.

In one quick moment, he\'d broken through Snape\'s barriers and was sifting through the man\'s memories. When he felt Snape try to push him out, he held on to the closest memory to him, and was amazed at what he saw.

A much younger Severus Snape, no older than nineteen, was prostrated before a much different looking Lord Voldemort with his head bowed.

\"Do you, my young Snape, swear yourself to me?\" asked Voldemort with a rich tenor voice.

\"I do, my Lord.\"

\"Will you keep your purity until I instruct you to take a lover, to further our cause?\"

\"I will, Master,\" was Snape\'s sublimated response.

\"Do you understand that my Mark will ensure not only your chastity, but also your loyalty under the penalty of a slow and painful death? Do you accept this, young Severus?\"

\"I do and I will, my Lord,\" Snape answered.

The Dark Lord then lifted Severus\' left arm and touched it with his thumb, chanting an incantation. Severus never flinched or made a noise as the Dark Mark was burned in his skin. \"It is done, my son,\" Voldemort said almost lovingly as he aided the young man to his feet. \"Let all here bear witness to the loyalty of Severus Snape, your newest brother and loyal Death Eater…\"

At this point, Snape took hold of Harry\'s presence and flung him violently from his mind. Severus sat on the cold stone floor of his office, panting harshly while Harry lay across the room passed out.

After regaining control, Snape walked across the room and enervated Harry before hauling him to his feet. All of the color had drained from Harry\'s face and his mouth felt stuffed with cotton. He trained his unfocused eyes on the dark man and tried to follow what he was saying. \"Potter, get out of my sight. This lesson is over!\"

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but only got out “Sir,” before his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out. Severus sighed and took Harry to the infirmary, instructing Poppy on which potions he would need.

Two days later, he woke in the infirmary to Poppy tisking and sighing about \'over-worked teens\'. She informed him that he\'d suffered from severe magical drain and that he was not to attend classes for the rest of the week.

By the middle of the next week, Harry was feeling almost back to his old self. The next night was his first Occlumency lesson since the incident, and neither he nor Snape brought it up. Near the end of the lesson, Harry was exhausted. When this professor would enter his mind, he gave no resistance. When the older man would pull out and begin berating him, he couldn\'t even muster the strength to get angry.

That\'s when it hit him. The searing pain across his forehead had him grabbing at his scar. Snape did not know what was wrong with the boy, never having seen one of his fits before. Harry crashed to the floor screaming and clawing at his face, his body alternating from completely rigid to a flailing, twitching mass of flesh and bone. He began foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog. The high pitched laughter that came from the young man\'s mouth sent shivers down the dark wizard\'s spine.

\"Sssseverussss,\" he taunted, \"Sssssseverusssss, you will be next!\"

Then, Harry went completely limp. He did not respond to anything his professor did. The older man almost panicked before running to his supply cabinet and pulling out a vial of this Cruciatus potion. He trickled it bit by bit down the young man\'s throat, careful not to choke him before carrying him from the dungeons to the infirmary.

Much later that night, Harry groaned, waking his sleeping professor. The young Gryffindor struggled to sit up in his bed, and the older man quickly helped him up, piling pillows behind him. Harry rasped out something unintelligible. Severus quickly put a goblet of cold water to his lips and let him drink. When he was finished, he gave the tall wizard a worried look. \"He knows, Sir.\"

\"I know, Harry,\" the older man replied.

\"Sir, we have to figure out a way to get rid of the Dark Mark. He\'s going to use it to kill you!\"

Harry was nearly hysterical at the prospect of his professor dying because he could not stop the Dark Lord. The young wizard began hyperventilating and trying to climb from the bed. Snape physically restrained him as he called for Poppy to bring a calming draught. He straddled the smaller man\'s hips and grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him down on the bed. \"Mr. Potter,\" he screamed, causing Harry to flinch and then still, \"please cease your histrionics and calm down! You cannot do anything at the moment.\"

Poppy forced the draught down the boy\'s throat and soon he was slumbering again. \"Poppy,\" Severus said wearily, \"we\'re really getting too old for this.\"

She just smiled and patted him on the shoulder. Snape trudged down to his chambers and tossed back a pepper-up potion, intent on staying up, since he would need to be up in two hours anyway.

After supper the next evening, Harry arrived for his Occlumency lesson early. \"Fifteen minutes early, Mr. Potter, to what do I own the privilege?\"

\"Sir,\" Harry said nervously, \"I would like to talk to you about my vision last night. I want to help.\"

With a snort, Severus replied, \"What makes you want to help your evil Death Eater Potions professor?\"

Harry lowered his head guiltily. \"Sir, I just don\'t want anyone else to die because I didn\'t or couldn\'t do anything. I learned my lesson after…Sirius.\"

\"And just what do you think you can do to help?\"

Still looking at his fidgeting hands in his lap, Harry shrugged. \"I don\'t really know if I can do anything, but if you can tell me where I can find a book about magical marks and bonds, then I\'d start there.\"

\"I suppose that if you were successful, then I\'d owe you a life debt. No thank you, Mr. Potter. Being in debt with your father was more than enough for me in this lifetime,\" Snape sneered.

Harry looked at his professor and narrowed his eyes. \"You think this has to do with something as selfish as a life debt on my part? Sir, I don\'t know if you realize it or not, but I\'m the one who owes you many times over. This has nothing to do with a life debt and everything to do with trying to aid a colleague in the Order and someone that I trust! You are a stubborn and bitter old man! If you won\'t help me help you, then I\'ll do it myself!\"

Harry got up and stormed toward the door but Snape stopped him. \"Mr. Potter?\"

\"What?\" He asked as he turned the doorknob.

\"Fifty points from Gryffindor for insulting my intelligence,\" the Potions Master said maliciously.

Harry growled and slammed the door as he stomped back up to Gryffindor Tower. \"Hermione, we need to go to the library, now,\" he said stonily as he walked into the common room.

Ron looked at his girlfriend quizzically as she followed Harry from the room. She had to run to catch up with her friend. She was left panting as they entered the library; repeatedly asking Harry what was going on.

He hurriedly told her about his vision and what he saw of the marking ceremony. Harry quickly glossed over all of the facts and, albeit reluctantly, told her about their professor\'s chaste state.

The young witch mulled over the information. Hermione grabbed her permission note from McGonagall, handed it to Madame Pince, and then walked into the Restricted Section and pulled down a couple of books. \"Harry,\" she said seriously, \"this is bad. There aren\'t many ways to circumvent magical markings. We\'ll just have to research ones that also include a chastity bond.\"

The two began to quietly read in their respective books, the only sound between them being the scratching of quills. After three hours and several parchments of notes, it was time for the library to close. Hermione took the parchments and charmed them so that no one could see what they were doing and took all of the notes to her dorm room.

Three days later, she had everything organized alphabetically and into columns of relevance. She began perusing another book as Harry made his way down to his Occlumency lesson.

He knocked on Snape\'s office door and waited until he heard a muffled “enter.” Harry opened the door and sat in the uncomfortable chair in front of the massive mahogany desk. Up close, his professor\'s face looked even paler than usual. Even behind the tall wizard\'s passive mask, Harry could see the pain. \"It\'s begun, hasn\'t it, Sir?\"

Snape growled and did not answer. He merely stood and pointed his wand at Harry, grounding out, \"Legilimens!\"

As with every time before, Snape began rifling through Harry\'s mind. The young man was careful in his attempt to push certain memories to the front while he guarded those of his research. In his haste, Harry let one of his more risqué fantasies slip through.

Harry stood in the corner of a dimly lit room, a single stream of light crossing his face. He looked up, hearing a noise to his left. The Gryffindor smiled brightly; his green eyes were lined darkly with kohl, giving them an almost ethereal look.

He sauntered into the light wearing an impossibly short black leather skirt, a black corset with forest green boning and silver embroidery around the top edge and a pair of inconceivably high silver stiletto heels, laced up his toned calves. \"Do you like?\" He asked, looking down.

The same familiar baritone from Harry\'s last fantasy growled in appreciation as he circled the young man. The same pair of pale, disembodied hands reached out and gently caressed the exposed crease of Harry\'s bum, where it met his thighs.

Before Severus could see anything else, Harry pushed him out of his mind with a shout. He sat on the floor against the door to the office, panting. Severus stood across the room rubbing his shoulder from the stinging hex that the young man threw at him.

His pain from the Dark Mark momentarily forgotten, Snape stepped toward the younger man and leered. \"Why Mr. Potter, you really should be more careful. It would not do for the Dark Lord to see that particular…fantasy,\" he purred, his voice dropping to almost a whisper as he emphasized the last word.

Harry gritted his teeth in humiliation. Before he thought about what he was saying, Harry replied, \"It would not do for the whole of Hogwarts to know you\'re a virgin, either.\"

Snape crossed the room with almost preternatural speed and grabbed his student by the throat. \"You will not breathe a word of what you saw in that memory, boy,\" the older wizard said in a waspish tone. \"If you do, the Dark Lord will be the least of your problems.\"

Harry didn\'t flinch as his professor grabbed his neck. He relaxed his whole body, knowing there would be less damage done than if he struggled. He tried to focus on the words hissing from his professor\'s mouth, but all he could feel was his hot breath caressing his cheek. He looked passively into those fierce black eyes. Snape stepped back, looking mortified that he’d just attacked a student.

He went through a door that Harry had never noticed and reappeared a moment later with a small jar. “Come here, Mr. Potter. I wish to make sure there is no bruising. It would not do for you to leave this lesson wearing my handprint around your neck,” he sighed, still inwardly upset that he’d put his hands on a student, even if it was Harry bloody Potter.

Harry pulled his robe off and unbuttoned his shirt as he stepped toward his teacher. “It wouldn’t be the first time,” he mumbled.

Snape heard his response but chose to ignore it as the young man bared his neck for inspection. The Potions master rubbed the healing balm onto the soft tanned flesh in front of him and then dismissed Harry for the night.

Harry made his way back up to the dormitory and immediately found Hermione immersed in an ancient tome. Her eyes sparkled with glee as he sat down. “Harry, I think I’ve found something we could use.”

He perked up at the thought of being able to save his teacher. “What is it, Hermione?”

She thumbed back through the book and read a passage. “Chastity bonds are often times used in conjunction with magical marks when parents betroth children for arranged marriages. Each child has a mark, usually in a private place, until which time they are of age, bonded, and have consummated the relationship, at which time the chastity mark disappears.

“The only way the chastity bond can be broken without being bonded, is that if one of the betrothed has fallen in love with someone other than who they are contracted to be with. In the rare instance that this happens, both marks fade whether or not the individual in love remains chaste. If the individual with the mark is not in love and attempts to become physically involved with someone, then the person with whom they are trying to be physical with will be horribly scarred for life.”

Harry sat back in a huff. “Great Hermione! All I have to do is make him fall in love with me.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Stop being such a drama queen, Harry. This information is just for a Betrothal Bond. Professor Snape’s bond is just a bit more than that. It’s almost like a slavery bond with a betrothal bond interwoven in it.”

As the weeks turned into months, Harry and Hermione were only a little closer to finding a way to break the mark and Professor Snape was beginning to look more and more worn down. He’d even begun unconsciously rubbing his forearm. Harry was even more worried by the fact that his Occlumency lessons were going so well. He had been able to successfully repel Snape for almost a solid week’s worth of training.

The week before Christmas break was to be his last lesson until after the New Year. He walked into Snape’s office and froze. “S…sir?” He whispered.

His professor looked up at him in irritation. “What, Mr. Potter?” he snapped.

“Sir, I think your glamour fell,” Harry croaked out, staring steadfastly at the floor.

Severus\' face shot up from the parchments he’d been grading and he quickly walked into his personal chambers and found a mirror. He gasped at what he saw. His long black hair was now liberally streaked with gray. His face was deathly pale and he had black circles around his eyes.

After trying three times to replace the glamour, he trudged back into the office where the young Gryffindor waited. Harry had sat down in the chair in front of the desk and waited for his teacher to reappear. “Mr. Potter, I would appreciate it if you would not mention this to anyone.”

Harry looked up at his professor sadly. “He’s draining your magic, isn’t he?”

Snape sighed. He did not want to have that conversation with this particular student. “Yes, Mr. Potter, he is. Soon, I will not have the strength to lift my head, much less do anything else. Now, if you would be so kind as to get out of my office. I have tolerated your presence for as long as I can.”

Harry stayed where he was. Snape looked at the determined young man. “Sir,” he said, his voice more confidant than he actually felt, “Hermione and I have been researching a way to break the mark. She’s helping me write a ritual for the sole purpose of freeing you.”

“You what?” asked Severus, his face turning red.

“I…we’re writing you a ritual, sir,” Harry stammered.

“You told Miss Granger what you saw?”

Harry could tell by his tone that Snape was just about to his boiling point. “Er…no? Sir?”

Severus’ anger flared. “How dare you presume to know what I want!”

Harry stood his ground. “You pompous git!” he bellowed. “I will not let another person die in this war because I did nothing!” Harry stood from his chair and began pacing the floor, waving his hands about as he talked. “I will not be responsible for the death of another person I’ve come to respect. You have worked for well over twenty years to help us get rid of this madman and now you give up? I will bloody fucking not let you give up! The end is near and your freedom is almost assured.”

With his head in his hands, Snape replied quietly, “My freedom will only be in death, Potter.”

Stomping over to the desk, the Gryffindor grabbed one of his teacher’s wrists and jerked it from under his head, forcing the man to look up. “You. Will. Not. Die.”

The only answer given was for the Potions Master to turn his head from the young man in front of him. Letting go, Harry stepped back and turned around. He took a deep calming breath before turning back around and sitting down. “Sir,” he began quietly, “we need you. The Light cannot win without you. You’re a very powerful wizard. Will you help Hermione and me with the ritual? She’s going to be gone over the holiday and I’m going to need someone with some semblance of intelligence to help me. Please, sir?”

Snape sighed. “If I agree to help you, will you leave me alone until after Christmas?”

Harry beamed at his professor. “I believe that I can manage that, sir.” The young man cast a strong glamour on his professor before he left, to prevent anyone, especially the junior Death Eaters, from seeing the shape the man was in.

The next day found Harry and Hermione at Hogsmeade. The top five Seventh years in each class were exempt from their mid-year exams, so the duo decided to spend the day Christmas shopping.

Harry quickly bought all of his gifts and began dragging Hermione through all of the shops. He made his way into Gladrags. He found a beautiful emerald encrusted platinum ring and bought it. “Oh, Harry! Who is he?” Hermione exclaimed.

He rolled his eyes. “This is for Professor Snape. I’m going to ask Professor Flitwick to put several strong protection charms on it, then I’m going to put an invisibility charm on it so maybe he’ll wear it. Hermione, Voldemort’s draining him. I had to put a glamour on him last night so no one would know. He looks bloody awful.”

The young witch smiled at her friend. There weren’t many people selfless enough to go through the trouble Harry was for Severus Snape. They walked back to the school in silence both lost in their own thoughts.

Finally, exam week ended, and it was time to go home. Harry stood at the steps of the school and hugged his friends, wishing them a happy Christmas. When he could no longer see them, he made his way down to the dungeons. He knew that Professor Snape would not be happy to see him, but he was very concerned for the man.

He knocked on the office door and waited. His professor rasped out a barely audible “enter”. He stepped in and rushed behind the desk to his professor. The stoic man was on his knees on the floor, panting.

Harry draped the dark haired man’s arm around his shoulders and lifted him up. “Sir, we have to get you to the infirmary,” he said, panic evident in his voice.

“No,” was the reply. “My chambers.”

Severus pointed a shaky hand and a door appeared in the wall. Harry helped him over to it and they walked through directly into Snape’s bedroom. Settling the man on his large four poster, the green-eyed man removed the glamour.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked at his teacher. The man was almost completely gray now and severely emaciated. Harry crawled onto the bed and pulled the deathly thin man into his lap, hugging him around the shoulders. His tears were falling freely as he smoothed the almost white hair from the man’s brow. “Sir,” he said between sniffs, “you can not give up now. We are so close. Please, tell me what I need to do. You have to live. You have to.” Harry wiped at a tear that had fallen onto the man’s face. “Who will swoop in and save me if you’re gone?”

Severus dropped off into an uneasy sleep as he was laid down. He felt the anguish radiating from the young man holding him, and woke as a tear dripped onto his cheek. Looking into the sad face of his student, and listening to him, Severus could hardly believe that there was someone out there, other than Albus, that would shed a tear for him.

Harry called for Dobby to bring something to eat and spent the rest of the evening in the dungeons, watching over his professor. The man dozed fitfully, obviously in pain. Somewhere around midnight, he became coherent enough to call out.

Harry had been sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the bed, fingering the wrapped box he had for his professor. Harry crawled across the bed and lifted the man into his lap. “Are you okay, sir?”

Snape shook his head and tried to get up. He was as weak as a newborn kitten. Harry helped him up and into the bathroom where, with an extremely red face and closed eyes, he helped his professor unbutton his robe and keep steady enough to use the toilet.

When Harry got Severus back to the bedroom, he unbuttoned the bulky black teaching robes and discarded them before laying the man back down. Severus sighed as the young man again crawled onto the other side of the bed and propped his teacher up. “Sir, I was going to wait to give this to you, but I think you really need it right now.”

He pulled out the wrapped box, opened it, and pulled out the emerald ring, showing it to his professor. Snape grimaced. “It’s for protection, sir,” Harry said hastily. “Professor Flitwick added many different protection charms on it and I added an invisibility charm so no one could see it but you, sir.”

Snape rolled his eyes and lifted the hand closest to Harry, curling all of his fingers but his pinky. Harry smiled and watched it automatically size itself to his long slender finger. “Thank you for letting me try to help, sir.”

Only receiving a grunt in reply, Harry leaned down and kissed the older man’s forehead. Severus was already fast asleep.

Near dawn, Severus awoke. He was feeling better than he had, but still as though he’d been caught in a stampede of dragons. Harry shifted in the chair across from him and he looked at the young man. It was obvious that he’d been up for most of the night.

A light cough woke Harry up. He looked into Snape’s dark eyes and almost cried with joy. His professor was awake and looked more alert than he’d been in a while. Immediately, Harry was by his side, “Sir, do you need to go to the loo?”

Harry helped him rise from the bed and to the bathroom where he stepped outside the door to let his marginally stronger professor retain at least a bit of his dignity. After helping him back to the bed, the Gryffindor summoned Dobby for some breakfast.

Dobby brought both men porridge and a glass of milk. Snape scowled down at the food and then at Harry. “Sir, I’m afraid that with what little you had to eat the last few days that this might even be too much. I don’t like porridge either, but I won’t have you fighting me for my bacon. Now eat.”

Severus took a sip of his milk and frowned. “I would prefer coffee with my breakfast, Mr. Potter.”

Instantly, Dobby appeared with a steaming cup of black coffee. With a bow, the elf disappeared again. Taking a sip, the dark wizard sighed, “This is much better.”

After breakfast, Harry banished the empty dishes and settled his teacher down to sleep. He asked for the password to the chambers, and announced that he would be back after showering.

It took him almost an hour, but Harry finished his shower, grabbed the large book with the ritual in it, and threw his invisibility cloak over himself and made his way back down to the dungeons.

Severus was still sleeping when Harry walked in. The young man lit a fire in the hearth and settled down with his notes. The scratch of a quill woke Severus. He watched the young man near the bed diligently work, sifting through notes and adding or scratching out things on a parchment.

He pushed himself up on the bed and Harry looked up. “You’re stronger,” he said happily.

“It indeed appears so, Mr. Potter.”

“Would you like a shower, sir? I know I felt much better after getting one,” Harry asked, smiling. “I can call Dobby if you need any help.”

Snape reluctantly agreed that he did need to bathe and made his way to the bathroom by himself. It wasn’t long before Dobby appeared in the room, rummaging through the bureau for clothes. He pulled out a button down shirt, an undershirt, black silk boxers, and a pair of black wool socks before walking over to the closet and grabbing a pair of soft cotton slacks.

Harry watched and just before Dobby was finished, he said, “Dobby, Professor Snape will not need all of that today. He will be spending the rest of the day in his bed. Please, will you take him something a little more appropriate?”

“But Mr. Harry Potter, Master Severus wants favorite shirt today,” Dobby pleaded with fearful eyes.

Smiling kindly at the creature, Harry knelt down. “Dobby, please. Professor Snape is sick. Does he have any pajamas? What about slippers? Those are what he needs to wear today. Don’t worry, Dobby, you will not be in trouble with him. Tell him that I asked you to bring him his clothes.”

The house elf’s ears drooped and he reached into one of the drawers and pulled out a pair of midnight blue flannel pants, after putting everything away but the undershirt. He walked over to the closet and replaced the pants with a dressing gown and a pair of black fluffy slippers.

It was not long until Snape walked out of the bathroom growling as he tried to get a brush through his gray hair. Harry chuckled at the scene. “Sir, may I help?”

Snape again growled at Harry before sitting on the bed and disentangling the brush from his hair. Harry crawled onto the bed and sat behind his professor. He cast a quick drying spell on his hair and gently ran the brush through the course strands.

When he was finished, the young man asked, “Sir, have you got any elastics?”

“No,” Severus answered sharply.

With a chuckle, Harry hopped down from the bed and rummaged through his bag. Triumphantly, he held up a black one. Snape looked at him quizzically. “Potter, why would you have an elastic in your bag?”

He rolled his eyes at the older man. “My best friend is a girl,” he replied as he crawled onto the bed.

It was only a moment before Harry expertly had his professor’s hair pulled back in a low ponytail. Crawling off the bed and sitting back down Harry chuckled as his professor tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear. He could tell that the older man was exhausted from what little activity he’d done and asked, “Would you like something else to eat?”

The older man shrugged. “It would probably be prudent for me to drink a nutrient potion. They are in the bathroom cabinet, Mr. Potter.” Harry retrieved the appropriate potion and watched his teacher down it in one gulp before he settled back in the bed to take another nap.

As lunch approached, Dobby appeared with food and a message from the Headmaster. Harry was to meet with Albus for tea at three. He ate quickly and went back to his research. At fifteen minutes to three, Harry called Dobby and had the elf stay with Snape. If the professor woke or anything changed, he was to get Harry.

He trudged up to Dumbledore’s office and sat in the chintz armchair in front of his desk. He took the proffered peppermint tea and waited for the barrage of questions. “Harry, it has come to my attention that you spent the night in the dungeons. Is that correct?”

With a sigh, he put his cup down. “Yes sir, it is true. That is where I’ve been since everyone left yesterday.”

“May I ask you why?” he asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Professor Snape’s sick,” was the reply. “I found him in his office yesterday clearly in distress and he refused to go to the infirmary, so I took him to his own chambers.”

“Why did you not alert anyone, Harry?”

Harry rubbed his temples, suddenly feeling a full hundred years old. “Because I did not want to break his trust. Sir, everything that we say will stay here, won’t it?”

Dumbledore nodded. “Good, sir, because Hermione is the only one who knows how sick he is besides me.”

“Will you tell me what’s wrong, Harry?”

Harry knew that Albus would get it out of him one way or another so he just decided to come clean. “Do you remember the vision I had about Voldemort about three months ago? Well, just before that, I watched Professor Snape’s marking ceremony inadvertently during Occlumency. The Dark Mark is slowly killing him. He’s been wearing a glamour since it started. Sir, his hair is almost as white as yours and he’s lost a ton of weight.”

The young man paused to breathe before continuing, “He’s doing better today, though. I bought him a Christmas gift and had Professor Flitwick put several strong protection charms on it. Last night I gave it to him and he appears to be a little better today. I’m afraid that it’s only temporary, though.”

“Tell me, Harry, what do you think you can do to help him?”

“I’ve been researching magical marks and bonds to see if I can find anything. So far, Hermione and I have decided that because of the unique circumstances surrounding the mark, it would probably be best to write our own ritual for it.”

Dumbledore raised both bushy eyebrows. “Do you know how difficult it is to write a ritual, Harry? You are talking about using very old magic.”

Harry nodded grimly at the Headmaster. “Yes, sir, I am very aware as to how difficult it is. I’m going to ask Professor Snape his opinion on it to see if he thinks we should change it. As a matter of fact,” Harry looked down at his watch, “Sir, I really should be returning to the dungeons.”

Getting up, he shook the Headmaster’s hand and left. When he arrived back in the dungeons, he found Snape sitting up in his bed pouring over Harry and Hermione’s notes. Looking up, Snape noticed Harry. “I see that you and Miss Granger have been very thorough in your research, but you are forgetting one thing. I was marked using dark magic.”

With a shake of his head, Harry answered, “I understand that dark magic was used, sir, but I am not willing to take a chance on something like that with you again. We will use light magic to break this bond. Have you read the ritual yet?”

The older man shook his head and handed Harry the parchments back. The other man shuffled through them until he got to the last several pages. Handing them back, he sat in the chair near the bed and waited.

Snape read through the ritual and stopped about three-quarters of the way down. “There’s no way, Mr. Potter. This ritual will not work.”

Harry looked crestfallen. “Why not, sir?”

“Because I will not participate,” was the quiet reply.

“What do you mean you ‘will not participate’?”

Snape rolled his eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. “Just exactly what I said, I will not participate.”

The forlorn look on Harry’s face would have been comical, had the situation not been so grave. “Let me guess, you’d rather die than be buggered by the boy-who-lived. How typical is that? I offer up my virginity to save your life, and…” At this point, Harry realized what he’d said.

He clapped both hands over his mouth and looked into the amused black eyes of his professor. As his face began to burn in embarrassment, Snape burst out laughing. Harry had never heard the stoic man laugh and, though it was at his expense, he was pleased at the deep rumbling sound and how it erased years from the man’s face. His anger and embarrassment forgotten, Harry laughed too. When both quieted, he looked at his professor. The older man sobered at the still mortified look on his student’s face. “Harry, I can’t participate in this ritual. It is borderline sex magic, which means that if the Ministry got wind of it, we could all go to Azkaban. I’m afraid that you’ll have to begin again on it.”

Harry hung his head as tears welled up in his eyes. He curled up in the chair and sobbed. Severus sat there watching his student break down. He was deeply sorrowful that Harry and Hermione had spent so much time for naught. He called the young man’s name. When he didn’t get a response, he called again. Tear-reddened green eyes looked over the top of knobby adolescent knees.

Snape patted the edge of the bed, beckoning Harry over. He sat heavily on the edge of the bed and began a new round of tears. Severus put his hand on the distraught young man’s shoulder. Soon, Harry found himself wrapped in the comforting arms of his professor wailing his misery and regret. Severus rubbed Harry’s back and murmured kind words into his ear. The seventeen year old soon cried himself to sleep.

Near midnight, Harry woke feeling safer then he’d ever felt. He snuggled into the warmth. When long fingers simultaneously carded through his hair and along his stomach, he woke immediately and his whole body tensed.

“Shhh, just me,” was the answer to his reaction, followed by a soft kiss on the back of his neck. The familiar timbre of the voice lulled Harry back to sleep at once.

At daybreak, both men woke, stretching languidly. Harry opened his eyes. A pair of beetle black ones stared back at him. He sat straight up and began muttering and stumbling over words of apology. Severus simply smiled and put his arm around the young man.

Harry looked bewildered for a moment, then relaxed into the embrace. “I feel even better today, Harry. Do you know which charms Filius used?”

Thinking for a moment, the young man said, “I believe he used Animus munimentum (soul protection), tutamen spiritus (spirit protection), and praesidium specialis (guard special friend).”

“That’s an interesting combination. Why would he use them?”

A blush crept upon across Harry’s cheeks. “I told him the ring was for someone special and that I needed the most powerful protection charms he knew to be put on it.”

“You do know that praesidium specialis is generally used on bonding rings, don’t you?”

Harry’s face reddened further at the implication. “Oh dear lord! He thinks I’m going to propose.” Severus laughed heartily as Harry put his hands over his face.

It was not long before Dobby brought the two men breakfast. Again, it was porridge. Harry’s had a sprinkling of cinnamon on top and Severus’ was full of butter and sugar. He sipped his coffee as Harry drank his milk.

Finally, breakfast was done and Harry turned toward his professor. “Sir, I know you feel better today, but I’m not sure how or how long the charms are going to work on the ring. We’ve got to figure something out.”

Severus sighed. “I know, Harry. I’m just not sure how to go about breaking the bond or even if it can be broken.”

The two men spent the next several days again researching magical marks and bonds. On Christmas Day, they made their way up to the Great Hall for Christmas Dinner. Harry renewed the glamour on his professor so no one would know. It was a rather quiet affair with only the staff, Harry, and a second year Hufflepuff in attendance.

Soon afterward, the two dark haired men made their way back down to the dungeons. Harry immediately dropped the spell and looked at his teacher. He shook his head sadly. “Severus, if we figure this out, do you think your hair will ever change back?”

Fingering his long, course locks, the taller man replied, “I sincerely doubt it, Harry. I’m going to be the first Snape in two centuries to have a single gray hair. What I despise, though, is that it’s become course and wiry.”

Harry laughed at this admission. “Since when did you become vain about your hair?”

Snape tried to scowl, but he knew the young man was right. It didn’t occur to him until that particular moment how fond of Harry he’d actually become. Since the first day of the holidays, he’d began to look upon him as an equal as opposed to a student. It felt good.

The two sat for several more hours reading, nothing more being said save for a question here or there. At about ten, Severus got up and fixed himself a snifter of brandy. He needed something to relax him before he went to bed.

Finally, at midnight, a fairly tipsy Severus allowed Harry to lead him to his room. He passively let the young man unbutton his robes and then his shirt before Harry turned to leave. Severus grabbed his elbow and whirled him around. Pulling the young man tight against his chest he said, “I appreciate everything you are doing, Harry. If you worked as tirelessly with your Potions homework as you have with this, then you’d be at the top of your class.”

Harry hugged his professor back, laughing at what he was saying in his drunken state. “There aren’t many things that I wouldn’t do to save someone that I trust. Now, I’m going to get a hangover potion and put it beside your bed. I don’t even know why you were drinking. I hope it doesn’t hurt anything and make you sick again.” Severus waved him off and flopped ungracefully into the bed with a giggle.

As he left the room, Harry rolled his eyes at the man’s antics. He settled on the leather couch in the sitting room and contemplated what had become the strangest Christmas break in the whole of his Hogwarts years. Harry smiled, thinking of Severus. The man was completely different in private than Harry ever thought he’d be. His dry sense of humor was evident in just about everything he said. He was relaxed and preferred his fluffy black slippers to his usual dragon hide boots and he always removed his robe and dress shirt immediately upon entering his chambers opting to wear his tank undershirt, claiming that he always liked the way his hair felt on his shoulders. He laughed easily in private and relaxed with either a snifter of brandy or a large glass of Ogden’s Old.

Harry knew that he’d fallen in love with the older man and was not looking forward to the end of the holiday. He thought about the low moments of their time together and how often Severus rubbed the painful mark on his forearm. The one time Harry stopped him and ran his fingers over the offending mark, both men felt the draw of Harry’s magic tugging at the dark binding properties of the snake and skull tattoo. The sensation scared Severus so bad that he snapped at Harry, almost making him cry.

Finally sleep overtook the young man and his dreams were filled not with the dominant lover he’d always pictured Severus as being, but with a very submissive Potions Master writhing and begging Harry for release. Those lovely dreams quickly deteriorated into nightmares of Severus dying in Harry’s arms because he could not do anything to stop Voldemort.

Severus shook Harry violently trying to wake the screaming man up. When sleep fogged green eyes opened, they were met with worried black ones. Harry grabbed the tall man, wrapping his arms around his neck. The distraught young man wept on the older man’s shoulder, mumbling incoherently. All Severus could do was pull the young man in his lap and hold him, carding his fingers through his black hair.

It seemed as though it was forever before he calmed down, but Harry would not let Severus go. Finally, Severus picked the young man up and carried him to the large four poster in the bedroom. He wrapped himself around the young man and kissed his forehead. The realization hit Severus like a bludger to the head. ‘Fondness’ was not the word that should have been used to describe what he was feeling for Harry.

The next morning, they ate breakfast in bed, neither really wanting to be out of the presence of the other. Severus asked Harry about his dream, but the young man would not tell him. He just downplayed it and the terror that was evident.

Over the next few days, Harry noticed Severus begin to weaken. The older man tried to play it off and convince Harry that it was his imagination, but the other man would not have it. The professor began to cry out in pain in his sleep, causing Harry to take up residence in the man’s bed. He’d hold the sick man through all of his torture and prevent him from clawing at the now infected looking mark on his arm.

On the fourth morning, Severus was especially weak. Harry helped him to the bathroom and gently bathed him. He was dressed in a soft pair of silk sleep pants, and when they got back to the bed, the green-eyed man was almost in tears. He held the other man tightly in his arms whispering apologies and words of encouragement. Severus silenced him with a trembling hand on his cheek. “Harry,” he rasped out, voice almost completely given out from his nights of screaming, “I’m afraid that I will not make it until the New Year. You tried. Before I go, I want you to do one thing for me.”

Tears welled up in the young man’s eyes as his love spoke. “Anything,” he said his voice thick with emotion.

Severus smiled up at the one person he’d ever let in enough to love. “I am on my deathbed, so I feel that I can now say this. I’ve come to love you since you’ve taken up residence in my life. Before I pass, I want you to make love to me, just once. If you’d do me the honor of being my first, I believe that I can die a happy man.”

Harry kissed his temple before bursting into quiet sobs. He pulled the gray-haired man into a tight hug. “I don’t want to hurt you, Severus. You’re so weak.”

“Please,” the older man begged.

Shifting out from under the larger man, Harry rolled on his side facing him. He touched the almost transparent skin, running his knuckles across the man’s prominent cheekbone. “Severus, I love you too, but I’m not ready for you to go.”

Harry leaned in and gently kissed the man he loved on the lips. Severus’ next words were his undoing. “I need you,” he whispered against the full lips, taking them again in a languid kiss.

Groaning in pleasure as their tongues lazily dueled, Harry straddled Severus’ hips. When the kiss broke, he trailed gentle kisses down the pale neck in front of him. Harry slowly worshipped the body below him with his hands and mouth. Relishing in the quiet gasps and mewling sounds coming from the other man, the young Gryffindor could feel the tension and magic building in the room.

He slid the silk pants from the slim hips of his soon to be lover and trailed kisses down the mans hips and legs, gently nipping at the skin of his inner thigh. “Do you have any oil, Severus? I need to prepare you.” Harry said, rising and dropping another kiss on the man’s neck.

Emerging from his love induced fog, Severus pointed to his bathroom. “You should find something that is acceptable in the cabinet.”

Harry got up and returned momentarily carrying a small vial. He smiled at the light in his lover’s eyes as he kissed him yet again. “Severus,” he said between kisses, “there may be pain.” He looked at the love and trust in the older man’s eyes. “I’m going to be gentle. If you start hurting, please, stop me.”

He tipped the vial and poured oil onto his fingers. His slickened finger circled the other man’s opening, causing him to gasp in pleasure. As Harry breached his entrance, he felt the tight ring of muscles flex around his intrusion. He stopped and leaned up, kissing his blissful looking lover. “Okay?” Harry asked.

The only response he got was a contented sounding sigh and Severus pushing himself against the invading digit. Harry took that as a ‘yes’ and added another finger. He pressed against the older man’s prostate and elicited a pleasured yelp from the now panting man. Harry added a third finger, stretching him more and carefully watching for any signs of distress from Severus.

When he finished, he settled himself between the larger man’s legs and leaned down and kissed him. By now, the tension in the room was palpable, as was the magic that hung in the air. Slowly, Harry entered the older man. He was determined to ignore his need to viciously pound in the tight orifice in favor of slowly making love to the man who’d captured his heart.

As he became fully seated in his lover, he again leaned over and captured his lips in a gentle kiss. He pulled back and looked into the black eyes of his lover as he slowly started to move. “I love you, Severus,” he whispered.

The bodies of the two men found their rhythm, slowly thrusting and writhing in that ancient dance so foreign to both, yet so familiar. Words of love and protection were whispered between the two. Harry grasped both of Severus’ hands and held them over his heart. “You have this,” he whispered.

Tears sprang up in Severus’ eyes and the magic crackled around them. His heart felt full to bursting as he replied, “I love you too, Harry.”

All too quickly, both men could feel the beginning of their orgasms low in the pit of their bellies. Harry grasped Severus’ erection and pumped it three times before the man came with a shout of his lover’s name. Harry refused to speed up his pace as he raced toward the edge of oblivion.

He grabbed Severus’ forearm as he came, words of love issuing forth. The magic that had been building in the room exploded as Harry peaked, rocking the castle on its foundation. Severus’ whole body tensed and he screamed with Harry.

The younger man collapsed onto the chest of his older lover, panting. Severus lay there for a moment, unsure of what was different, but undoubtedly knowing that something was. “Harry,” he whispered. “Do you feel it?\"

Leaning up to look his lover in the face, he didn’t miss the surprised expression on Severus’ face as his eyes trailed down Harry’s chest. Long, pale fingers reverently touched Harry’s right pectoral muscle. The young man gasped as he looked down to find a large cobra coiled up, hood out and fangs bared, ready to strike. The most amazing thing, though, was the bright yellow lightening bolt on the serpent’s chest.

Harry grabbed Severus’ forearm to find an exact replica of the serpent in the spot that only minutes before bore the Dark Mark. Both men looked at each other and cried out, embracing. Carefully pulling out of his lover, Harry hastily cast a cleansing charm on them both and threw on his clothes. He covered a protesting Severus with the duvet and ran to the sitting room to floo the Headmaster.

A befuddled Albus Dumbledore stepped through the floo into the dungeons. Harry was talking excitedly and practically jumping up and down. Albus held up a hand to silence the young man just as Severus stepped shakily from the room. His lover helped him to the couch and grinned stupidly at the Headmaster.

“Did either of you boys feel the burst of magic that threatened to bring Hogwarts down a few moments ago?” Dumbledore asked, looking at Severus.

“I believe we caused it, Albus,” Severus said reluctantly.

“What on earth do you mean, Severus?”

Albus still had not registered the altered appearance of his Potions Master when he lifted the sleeve of his dressing gown and revealed Harry’s mark in place of the Dark Mark. He raised a bushy eyebrow at Harry who opened his shirt and revealed his own mark with a sheepish smile and a blush on his face.

Neither missed the twinkle in the old man’s eyes as he clapped his hands together and exclaimed, “Wonderful, my boys! You’re bonded! That was the most powerful burst I’ve ever felt from a bonding! It must have been a reaction to the dark magic in the mark.”

Both men paled and looked at each other. “Bonded?” they asked together.

“Of course! How else do you explain the marks?” For the first time since arriving, Dumbledore registered the gray hair of his Potions Master. His brows furrowed. “Severus, you look awful. Harry, take him back to bed and make sure he gets plenty of rest for the duration of your break. I’m sure pandemonium has broken out at the Ministry and the Prophet will be trying to knock down the gates to get a picture of the two of you. I’ll just leave you two with only one suggestion whilst I distract the wizarding world. Don’t leave the dungeons until everyone returns from their holiday.”

With that, he beamed at the two men and swept out of the dungeons. Harry looked at Severus and giggled. He lifted the man’s arm and put it around his shoulders. Looking into glistening black eyes, Harry smiled before he was enveloped into a passionate, hungry kiss.

When they finally broke the kiss, Severus laid his forehead against Harry’s and said, “You really did it, Harry. You cleansed me of his presence forever. I feel pure for the first time in my life.”

The young man gently brushed the gray hair from his bond mate’s cheek. “It wasn’t just me, Severus. You did it, too.”

~finite~