A/N: Due to personal taste and the futility of creating a plot line without suspicious potion masters and rowdy twins, Snape is alive and Forge is in business. Regardless of the amateurish writing and disappointing defeat of the Dark Lord, everything else in Harry Potter and the Extremely Heavy Paperweight (Book 7) is used. Except for the two choice resurrections, this fiction will be as canon as possible, simply with artistic liberty and individual opinions and preferences.
Warning: Character Death, Explicit Adult Content, Snarry (This means Harry and Snape are going to do it. A lot.)
If you can't handle it, don't read it. But if you do read it, please review it. I love hearing your thoughts on the story.
Disclaimer: We in no manner legally associate or profit from the Harry Potter books, films, or anything for we do not own it. The only gain from this is not making any friends and a lot of titillating Snarry action. Please, enjoy.
Chapter One: There's Something About Snape
Day One
15:00
Harry looked out, watching the waves crest and linked his fingers with Ginny's. He couldn't believe he was even standing here on the warm beaches of Barcelona, alive and free, married to Ginny Weasley- Potter now. He smiled at that- Ginny Potter, his wife. In three short years his life had gone from a living nightmare to something out a storybook and he didn't mind it one bit. It did take a while, to help Professor McGonagall rebuild the School and watch the wizarding world pull back together, but all of their struggles had been well worth it.
"You look happy." Ginny commented, wrapping an arm around Harry's waist.
"I am happy." He said, giving her a small kiss. "You look radiant," he replied, brushing a bit of hair from her face. It was true; the sun's setting rays shone off her hair and illuminated her perfectly. The dancing sunlight and Ginny Wea-Potter- were made to dance together. She was beautiful beyond words to him.
Ginny grinned up at him; her smile was stunning. "You don't have to compliment me anymore, Harry. We're married."
"Aw, come on baby- I like giving you compliments." He buried his nose into her pale, slender neck.
"Oh god," She said, laughing. "Don't even call me that, unless you want to sleep outside." They started walking down the beach, hand in hand. It was their last day here before heading back to the real world the next morning. The past two weeks had been amazing, with nothing and no one to bother but each other. They had spent the first three days in their hotel room, ordering room service and enjoying the seemingly endless hours that Harry had to rediscover every inch of her exquisite body. Ginny finally convinced him to leave their suite and do a bit of exploring and he didn't mind it that much. Barcelona was a beautiful city and Harry liked having the easy excuse to buy his new bride pretty things she probably didn't need but more than deserved.
"Haven't been married two weeks yet and you're already kicking me out of our bed." Harry complained half-heartedly, laughing when Ginny gave him a playful shove.
"Oh come off it! You'd deserve it if I did." She said, grinning at him. She had that look in her eyes, the one that made Harry's stomach do flips and his skin flush. He also knew what that look meant; flashing Ginny a grin he pulled her close so their clothes were the only thing separating them before turning on the balls of his feet and apparating the both of them to the parlor of their suite.
Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry's neck as their lips locked in a heated kiss. Harry slipped his hands under Ginny's shirt, his hands grazing her soft skin. He unclipped her bra and started to lead her to the bedroom.
"Forgive me for interrupting, Mister Potter." A familiar voice, eerie and from the past, broke Harry's concentration and they both turned to the main door. Ginny gasped and Harry swallowed a choice curse that had been on the tip of his tongue.
Severus Snape, in all his broken glory, was leaning against the ivory walls of Harry and Ginny's honeymoon suite in obvious disarray. There was dried blood on his face and in his hair. One hand was clutching his ribcage while the other hung lifelessly at his side. His robes were torn and muddy, and a substantial amount of blood was pooling at the potions master's feet. Harry thought his nose might have even been broken again; it was bleeding enough to have been and seemed a bit larger than usual.
Any fantasy the young Potter had of leaving Snape to bleed to death a second time, he had somehow survived the first time, he'd probably be fine this time as well, and continue his work on Ginny was slashed as the object of his affection snapped her bra back on with a short shriek and darted over to the object of his animosity. Ginny vainly attempted to help Snape over to the small couch; he naturally resisted her assistance and limped stubbornly to the couch and reclined.
"What's happened Snape? Rogue Death Eaters too much for you, old man?" Harry asked, ignoring Ginny when she glared up at him. She had her wand out and was starting work on healing, something Harry was sure he'd never be able to do.
"You'd like that wouldn't you, Potter?" Snape hissed, flicking some blood through his lips onto the armrest. "However, once again you prove just how unlearned and unaware you really are."
Harry picked up a beaten up broomstick and leaned it against the wall. "You flew here? No wonder you're all beaten up."
"Harry James Potter." Ginny whispered in warning, setting Severus' arm. If the man felt any pain he didn't make it apparent, save a slight twitch of his eye. Harry didn't know why he said it. Didn't know why Snape being there turned him so sour. The last time he saw the man he was bleeding to death in the Shrieking Shack, when Harry had gone back for the body- to see Snape taken care of, he was gone.
He had searched for months, to no avail and had to come to terms with Snape's death without any sort of closure. Now the Ex-Death Eater and the man who saved Harry's life too many times to count, was bleeding on the couch. All Harry could do was act like an adolescent and insult the man.
After a few minutes of incredibly awkward silence, Snape sat up.
"Professor please, you need to rest." Ginny started, but was cut off with a wave of Snape's hand.
"We don't have time. We must leave immediately." Snape stood and took the broom from the wall.
"Not until you tell us what's going on, Snape. You don't just show up back from the dead and start handing out orders. In case you didn't know- we're on vacation. We're honeymooning, in fact." Harry said, folding his arms. He refused to let Snape push him around like a kid. To hell with his resurrection. The git probably came back just to torture Harry.
"England, France, and Germany." Snape turned to face Harry, his face completely expressionless.
"What about them?" Ginny asked slowly, throwing on a light, fashionable knit sweater.
"They are the countries that were under control of Greyback and his forces when I escaped just under twenty-four hours ago." Snape said. He looked as if he expected Harry to call him a liar, seemed to wait for it.
"Bollocks." Harry said, never one to disappoint. "Greyback has been locked up for years. He's probably dead and no one's bothered to move the body."
"Of course; I had completely forgotten that you were an authority on the subject." Snape closed his eyes and took in a steady breath. When his eyes opened, he snatched up a strand of lank hair that had fallen in his face and smoothed it in behind his ear. "Get ready now, Mister Potter. I cannot spare another moment debating the inarguable fact of your imminent death if we do not flee this very minute."
During Snape's retort, Ginny had busied herself in the background, shrinking things and stuffing them into her purse. Harry looked irritatingly at her, watching her turn the room quickly into shambles. So much for his vacation…
"Where do you get off at?" Harry shouted sharply at Snape, whose filthy robes were still dripping blood, mud, and who knows what else all over the polished wooden floor. The smears of dirt and grime where Snape had walked were annoyingly obvious in the spacious white-coloured room. So were his handprints along the priorly pristine walls. Good thing they weren't at home; that maroon shag carpet would be ruined.
That glare flew off Harry's face and he blanched as the realization of why Ginny had burst into action hit him. If England had really been conquered as Snape claimed, Ginny's family – his family – would all be in grave danger. What if the Weasley clan had all been forced into hiding? What if they had all been killed?
They weren't the only ones in jeopardy; everyone Harry had come to love and care for lived on the island. France and Germany had also fallen, according to Snape's facts. What sort of dark power could have felled three such authoritative countries like that? Surely not Greyback…
Harry watched dazedly as Ginny snatched his cloak from the hat rack and stuffed it into her purse. He turned to Snape and was about to ask him about his family's safety when the man cut him off.
"Purge the thought from your mind, Mister Potter. Your safety is the imperative focus; if you want to help anyone you will leave now."
Harry snapped shut his mouth, nodded, and rushed to aid his wife in gathering anything immediately useful and necessary. In his search, he added many items of extreme sentiment- the photo album, the last sweater from Molly, Ginny's wedding garter, the Sneakoscope. His ring was already on his hand, and Ron's uncle's watch never left his wrist. In the bedlam of packing and panic, Snape stood warily at the window, constantly scanning outside for a sign of pursuers.
"Harry! Hold onto this!" Ginny handed off her bag and dashed into the kitchen.
"Ginny!" Harry called after her, sliding the strap around his right shoulder.
"We'll have to eat, Harry!" She shrieked from the cupboards. Harry dashed towards her, wanting to help, wishing he could quell the panic from his mind. A sudden thud and the sound of splintering wood and cascading glass filled the air, accompanied by a livid scream from Ginny; these sounds were more than agony for Harry. He burst into the room, vaguely hearing a garble of words emanating from Snape's mouth.
In the kitchen, Ginny was facing off against two intruders in the doorway facing the beach. She was quite advanced for a witch, but she was obviously battling in vain. Harry stepped up and disarmed one with a quick and powerful "Expelliarmus!" and Ginny managed to stun the other sufficiently. Snape crashed into the room as Harry clasped a hand around Ginny, leading her from the rubble. They were all ready to leave, going for their brooms and led by Snape to the back porch. Both Harry and Ginny grabbed their brooms from their places left outside after their last flying stretch the night before. Snape mounted his and kicked up into the air, the couple following suit.
They weren't seven feet up when a flash of sickly and blinding green light filled the entire atmosphere. Shocked, Harry turned around just as Ginny let a gentle sigh from her lips. She was looking straight at him, a shocked expression of confusion etched on her pretty face. As if in slow motion, Harry watched her eyes glaze over and roll back into her head. As he turned back for her, a hoarse cry strangling his throat, her body had already plummeted to the white, warm sand of the soft dunes kissing the ebbing waves of the incoming tide.
Harry landed at her side, eyesight misty with tears emanating his distress. The waves lapped at him, swishing lightly at Ginny's hair, the foam of the water gathered shyly in the lustrous red locks. Harry pulled her corpse to himself, disbelieving what had happened, what he had let happen. Was this his fault? Was the curse meant for him? A sharp, small, stinging blast hit his left shoulder, bringing him back. He snapped his head back to see a large, blonde man advancing towards him, wand drawn. He carefully laid Ginny's corpse down and brought out his own wand from his pocket. He fell into a protective stance, quivering with hate and panic.
"You fucking bastard," he spat. The murderer simply laughed boisterously, tossing back his head and displaying large teeth. Harry couldn't help but feel he had met this man before, the familiarity of the situation was unnerving and he himself was already enraged beyond all reason.
"I'll kill you where you stand for what you've done!" Harry flung out his wand, the words of the killing curse ready in his mouth. His adversary, however, was faster, shouting them out in a swift bark. Harry tensed, fully expecting to be hit. The death ray missed though, and he looked past its residual streak to see Ginny's murderer covered in slashes, bleeding profusely. Snape hovered above him, attacking the man over and over with his wand. Harry bolted forward; Snape managed to cease his attack just in time as Harry punched the blonde man square in the face.
"You killed her!" He shouted. He looked up to see naught but a malicious and bloody grin amid entangled hair. His stomach lurched, and as he was about to get hit himself, he felt cold fingers latch onto him and pull him up. The last thing he saw before the island zipped by was that sadistic grin plastered on Ginny's murderer's face. He felt his body go numb then, and grasped onto Snape and his broom while a wistful and defeated sob broke out from him. It was too much; the shock of what just happened overwhelmed him and as he noted a chilling hand with white knuckles wrapping firmly around him, Harry fainted.
21:45
Snape shook Harry awake as they approached a small wizarding village in Italy hours later. Severus was sure there had to be someone who would recognize Potter and in turn aid them in any way they could.
That was unless Greyback had continued his violent onslaught against the Wizarding World. Then they would turn the both of them in without a moment's hesitation. Snape pushed the thought from his mind; at the moment the only thing of any importance was getting Potter to a safe and secure location, for Snape to devise a Gryffindor-Proof plan.
Harry's hands tightened on the broomstick as he slowly realized he was no longer dreaming. He had been dreaming of Ginny, his pretty Ginny. Harry's eyes began to sting and they filled with tears; his chest ached painfully with the immediate knowledge that Ginny was no longer with him.
"You should have left me to die, Snape." He said hoarsely, closing his eyes.
Snape clenched his jaw to keep from just pushing Potter off the broomstick. "Yes, Mister Potter; you being dead would have made everything so much easier. Why did I even bother coming to you?" He growled into the boy's ear. "And what would have happened to her family? Beaten and terrified in Greyback's cells, because you were dead as well, Potter? As painful as it is for me to admit it, your survival is key to our own."
Harry swallowed his pride, too broken to fight and looked around them. "Where are we?"
"I honestly have no idea, Mister Potter, but hopefully one of these people will have enough floo powder for the both of us to get as far away from here as possible."
"So you have a plan?" Harry said, dismounting the broom and watched Snape do the same.
"Of course I have a plan," Snape said impatiently. "When in our history together have I not had a plan?"
"Don't get snarky with me, Snape." Harry bristled, "I deserve to know what the hell is going on, without the sarcasm."
Snape turned to Harry, his bloody robes swimming around his ankles and a dangerous look in his eye. "Listen to me, Potter, and listen well. I did not escape, half dead, from Greyback to warn and take you to safety for you to question my every move. We will discuss the nuances of what hell our world has fallen into once I am absolutely certain we will not experience another such episode as we did several hours ago. I am most aggrieved about your wife," he added, and Harry knew he wasn't. "But you must continue on or you will end up in the same manner as she."
"I'm not going to follow you blindly, Snape." Harry snapped.
"You didn't seem to have a problem with it as recently as three years ago, Potter." Snape hissed in return.
Harry glared at the Potions Master, trying to decide whether or not he should do what Snape said. It was true that Snape was the only reason Harry had actually defeated Voldemort. It wasn't as if he couldn't have done it without him. It wasn't as if anything had gone by Snape at all throughout Harry's entire life, really, even if the man had not been directly involved in every skirmish. Harry's scowl deepened; he was not willing to apologize now or ever, but he could acknowledge that Snape had always stuck his great big nose into all Harry's business during his education.
"Fine," he spat, grinding his teeth together. Snape bowed his head, physically noting Harry's current submission to his authority. He started forward then, taking brisk steps towards the town's heart. He didn't look to make sure that Harry was following; if he had, he'd have seen Harry slouching over, dragging his feet against the dirt with his hands stuffed into the front pockets of his light jeans.
When Snape stopped, Harry actually bumped into him, so enveloped was he in his own despairing world. Snape pushed him back, putting Harry behind a corner of a small, red brick structure. Harry was about to ask what was going on when Snape thrust the broom into his hands and pushed Harry further along the building, back into an alley behind it.
"Are we in danger here?"
Snape aimed a pointed expression directly at the young man. "When in any single moment of your life have you not been in any danger at all, Mister Potter?" He beckoned Harry behind him and peered down the way they came. "I recognized a face. Greyback's men are here. Whether or not they have taken control here is unfathomable. They're probably searching for you."
"Why me?" Harry moaned quietly.
"You don't seriously believe that this is only about you, do you?" Snape asked. Harry turned to look at the man and leaned against the wall, staring at him. "You do, Mother of Merlin. Potter, the only reason Greyback wants you dead is to prove to the Wizarding World that you are a talentless child who defeated Voldemort on the backs of others. If you truly, truly wish to protect your friends and family, then you will cease your pathetic whimpering."
Snape glanced down the alley, looking for an alternative exit, when he noticed the men approach their hiding spot. Harry opened his mouth to ask what they should do when Snape's mouth closed on his. Panicked, Harry dropped the broom and pushed against Snape's chest only to have his hands covered by his old professor's, pinning him in an unrelenting grip. Harry tried to fight him off and Snape bit down painfully on Harry's lip, drawing blood. When he attempted to scream, Snape took his tongue in between his teeth as well. Harry shut his eyes, tensing and bringing his shoulders together. Snape used that as an opportunity to pull the young man closer to him and roughly smashed Harry against the course bricks. They were crushed like that- they were so close that Harry could feel the level heartbeat of the potions master steadily aligned with his own, and it scared him more than the taste of his own blood in his mouth.
Harry stilled as footsteps approached and stopped-his eyes shot open as he vainly attempted to see past Snape's face and hair. Snape's left hand moved up from Harry's to hold Harry's face, hiding it.
"Nothing here, just a couple of faggots," Harry didn't recognize the deep throaty voice, or maybe he couldn't actually pay attention to it with so much of his mind concentrating on Snape. His mind was screaming and his eyes were wide, staring into Snape's. The older man's eyes bore dangerously into Harry's, holding a silent threat of what would happen if Harry did anything to give them away. Harry relaxed, quietly showing that yes, he would do as Snape ordered and yes, he knew better than to argue at this critical moment in time.
"Huh. They're really going at it."
"Oh," another voice, higher pitched with a slight Irish accent, chimed in disgustedly. "What's it to you? Let's get a move on."
The throaty voice, the one who seemed interested-very dismaying to Harry's terror-stricken mind- in the activity he and Snape were portraying spoke up again. "Well, they're certainly getting in more action than I have in a long time." He paused. "From here... It doesn't look that bad."
"Oh, come off it!" The sound of a slap against clothes sounded, and the scuffle of boots walking away was heavenly to Harry. He attempted to slip away, but Snape still clamped his hard fingers around Harry and ground him against the wall. He slowly shook his head. After a few excruciating minutes, he relaxed and released Harry from him. He traversed the alley, checking the street through windows and crevices between buildings. Finally he reached the street. After scanning it quickly, he strode back to the stunned tangle of nerves called Harry Potter that was still frozen against the wall, exactly as he left him, a small outline of blood along his lips.
"Fetch the broom. They've moved on, and we should do the same."
Harry nodded and almost sluggishly picked up the broom and walked to Snape. The man led him to the street and up a few blocks. The pace was quick, but not suspicious. As they went on, Snape seemed to be studying each dwelling that they passed. It took Harry a moment to realize what he was doing and when he did, he felt a little ashamed. He too began looking at each house to see if it was currently inhabited or not. He put all of his attention to it; he was still aghast at what Snape had done to him in the alley, still confused, frightened, and feeling singled-out and overpowered.
He felt sick, and used; regardless to it being a necessary sacrifice in Snape's eyes, Harry couldn't help but be completely disgusted with himself, with letting Snape get away with it, for letting it happen so soon after Ginny... He glared after Snape; Harry hadn't felt this utterly hopeless since he was in School, and at this moment it was all Snape's fault.
Severus stopped and watched as a man and woman left their home, closing the wards behind themselves before extinguishing a lantern on their porch and apparating away. Harry glanced up and down the street; besides the two of them, it was deserted. Snape grabbed Harry's shirt sleeve and dragged him across the street to the couple's house. With a sharp wave of his wand, Snape broke down whatever protective charm the family had on the house and shoved Harry through the door before closing it silently behind them.
"What are we doing here?" Harry asked, looking around the living area, trying to figure out why Snape would bring them here.
"This," Snape held up a bowl of floo powder. "Get over here, Potter."
"When do I get some answers, Snape?" Harry asked in return.
"When I am certain packs of werewolves won't be breaking down the door. Now, get over here." Snape said stiffly.
Harry stared at Snape for a few seconds before heading to him. "What's the address?" Harry asked, walking into the fireplace.
Snape gave Harry a sour looking smirk; he took a handful of the powder before stepping into the fireplace next to him. Snape grabbed hold of Harry's shirt again. "Anguisis Hold." Snape hissed, and dropped the floo powder to the floor and they were both engulfed in flames.