Epitome of a Soldier - What it is to be Necessary

Hi everyone :)

It's a new/old story XD
I finished this way back in 2007 and the sequel (which is also bundled in with the story hence the double title) was finished in 2008. So they're old but I think the writing's still pretty good. It also means that this was written way, way, way, WAY before Deathly Hallows came out so there are absolutely no spoilers in this. So, if you don't want to read spoilers this would be a very good story to read as several of my Horcrux predictions were wrong -.-
Updates will be coming every five days or so since this is completely pre-written. Reviews are my food and I tend to get forgetful when I'm hungry *hint, hint, nudge, nudge). Not a very long first chapter but it gets progressively longer as the story moves on. So please sit back and enjot the first chapter of our first story; Epitome of a Soldier.

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Two sets of footsteps echoed off of the dark grey, stone walls and floor, the flames of torches flaring to life around them as they were passed, lighting the way ahead. Neither of the two people who strode through the wide corridor spoke, though for their own reasons. All there was were footsteps, the crackling light of fire, and dark grey stone.

But then the corridor ended, opening out into a large chamber which was lit by several white, glowing stones that steadily began to grow brighter and brighter upon their entrance. It was the sight at the back of the chamber which caused the shorter and younger of the pair to finally break the wordless silence: "Merlin..."

Ahead, the only thing in the chamber stood out against the dark surroundings like a sore thumb. A huge mass of what appeared to be some sort of green crystal took up the entire length of the twenty foot long back wall of the chamber and about half way up to the high ceiling. Inside the middle of the green crystal was a rectangular black mass, the same shape and size as a bed, made of the same stone the surrounding area was made of. And, on top of that stone bed, was a person, trapped and apparently sleeping inside the crystal.

"That is the most elaborate coffin I've ever seen." The young man gasped, following along behind his elder, approaching the mass of crystal.

"It isn't a coffin," the man corrected. "It's an incubator. If you had listened to anything I had previously told you, you would've have known that."

"You can't expect me to remember what you talk about considering what's just happened." The blond boy muttered as he stopped in his tracks upon receiving a sign from his companion who continued on forwards, towards the mass of green crystal.

"I told you only an hour ago." The black haired man pointed out as he knelt down in front of the crystal upon reaching it. He leaned down and appeared to be looking for something, though whatever it was wasn't blindingly obvious.

The blond said nothing in reply and just watched with a light scowl on his face which seemed to be more of a natural expression than a sign he was actually annoyed with anything. For a few moments there was silence as the older man continued to search for something. Then, when he obviously found it, there was a loud, heavy clunk that reverberated throughout the stone chamber. The blond young man looked around himself at that, only slightly startled, attempting to see if there was any visible change to accompany the odd noise.

"What was that?" He asked curiously seconds before he felt a definite vibration underneath his feet. He hastily stumbled back a few paces as a small panel on the floor began to slide away, revealing a hole underneath where a polished sphere of green crystal, the same sort as the mass on the other side of the room, was resting.

The dark man stood from where he was kneeling and made his way back over to his companion and the newly opened hole. Upon arriving, he crouched down and reached in to remove the crystal ball. Curiously, the blond youth watched as, the moment the orb was removed from its resting place completely, the mass of green crystal which covered so much of the back of the room began to fade away into nothingness.

Once the green crystal around the stone bed and the person on it was gone, a few moments of nothing passed before a heavy intake of breath broke through the silence. It took the young blond a moment to realise that the now steady breathing, sounding so loud in the silence of the large chamber, was coming from the form on the stone bed who was now much clearer. The person was definitely a boy, the face was too angular to be feminine, there was no evidence of facial hair though which gave the boy an appearance of being younger than he probably was along with his height which appeared to rather small. His skin, all of which was on show as the boy was completely naked, was deathly pale, as though it had never seen a ray of sunshine, and completely unmarked. His hair was very long, reaching the heels for his feet, and it was hard to tell what colour it was in the dim light; it was either black or a very dark brown. And then, the eyes of the boy on the stone bed opened, and the blond was awed by the intense shade of green that his irises were. The boy was truly beautiful in a mysterious, creepy sort of way.

A few more moments of heavy breathing from the boy passed before his lips parted and he spoke for the first time. "You are not Albus Dumbledore." The voice that left the boy was strangely empty. It held no emotion but it was soft and had there been any other noise around, it would've been hard to hear properly.

"No. My name is Severus Snape, I teach Potions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is Draco Malfoy, my charge." The man introduced himself and the blond young man at his side who was staring in awe at the bare form of the dark haired young man of the same age as him in front of them.

"The time has not yet come; why have you woken me?" The dark haired teenager asked in the same tone, lips barely moving with the words.

"Albus Dumbledore is dead."

The revelation was met with a silence that stretched on for some time. Neither Severus nor Draco spoke, not sure if they were supposed to or even what to say while the strange boy, still laying so perfectly still on the slab of stone, which could have been neither warm nor comfortable, remained silent and unmoving. Until finally, two softly spoken words reached their ears:

"Very well."

Slowly, the dark haired youth sat up without using his arms to push himself with an ease that contradicted his slight form. Every movement he made was effortless, as though they were only pointless delays to aid him in achieving something. Or perhaps what created that impression was the fact that still he showed no real emotion. His face was blank and his eyes were empty despite their brightness. And the fact that he was completely naked and apparently didn't care was rather shocking.

Blushing furiously, Draco quickly caught himself in the act of ogling the strange young man who was slowly walking his way and he looked away, frowning at himself in annoyance. Beside him, Snape watched the approaching dark haired enigma without emotion on his own face as he removed his outer teaching robe. As the boy passed them both without word or acknowledgement, the Potions Master draped the black robe over his shoulders, covering his body and covering his nudity. The boy continued to walk forward silently, making no sign that he was even aware that he was now covered. Silently, Snape followed on behind the boy, ushering Draco forward as well with a gentle pressure on the blond's upper back.

"Sev, who is he?" Draco asked the older man quietly as they walked several paces behind the young man in question.

"He is Harry Potter." Severus answered grimly, his eyes staying on the naked youth covered only by his teaching robe. "And he is the only hope we have to defeat the Dark Lord."