The Promise
A Ballad
Vain
11.8.2003


Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. Harry Potter and all the elements therein are the intellectual property / registered trademarks of JK Rowling, Scholastic Books, and Warner Brothers.

This story was originally launched under my secondary pen name, "Hanakai." For convenience's sake, I have decided to streamline my fics under my original pen name, Vain. SAME AUTHOR. SAME STORY. DIFFERENT NAME. As a fic is re-uploaded under my Vain pen name, I will delete it from my Hanakai profile. Eventually, Hanakai will be deleted entirely, so please update your faves and bookmarks to reflect this.

Thank you for all your previous reviews—I saved them all—and I hope you all review again. I'm greedy.

For progress notes on the pen name transition or if you have any questions, please see my Livejournal (linked both my profiles). I hope this doesn't inconvenience anyone & thank you for your patience.

Warnings: SS/HP slash, underage, character death. Unbeta-ed.

"'Look for me by the moonlight;
Watch for me by the moonlight.
I'll come to thee by the moonlight,
Though hell should bar the way.'"
The Highwayman
- Alfred Noyes


It was raining; it was three am,
The stars were blind and dim.
A fey child came a-wand'ring down,
All for the sake of Him.
An average boy, a bit too short,
With eyes that burned within,
And down he took
The winding stairs
All for the sake of Him . . .
All for the sake of Him.

"Forbidden!" whispered silent stones.
"Forbidden!" warned the wind.
But the boy cared not, for all he thought
Was for the sake of Him.
"Turn back!" the sweeping hallways begged,
"Return," beseeched the wind.
And yet the boy
Had set his pace:
Down, down to Him.

Infatuation it was not –
Nor a soul who sought its kin:
Instead he'd seen his lover lost,
Simply for loving him.
One Master cruel, one Master stern,
And He caught between them . . .
And so the boy went,
Through castle dark,
All for the sake of Him . . .

And now it had happened, the worst had come:
He'd paid for their both their sin:
A student in a teacher's bed
Discovered—Seen by HIM.
There was no forgiveness, there was nothing kind;
HIS revenge was swift and with vim.
And the boy'd watched all,
Though it tore at his soul,
'Til the portkey was forced upon Him.

Yes, he'd seen the pain, the long back arced,
The torment of this man,
He knew what he'd find—what to expect
After that vision off Him.
There was no cure, no medicinal spell
To forgive them of their sin.
But "I'll return,"
His lover'd sworn,
"After seeing HIM."

So past the stones, and down the Halls,
He walked, forsaking the wind.
He'd see the man he loved in spite
Of all HE'd done to Him.
The door was dark and the darkness still,
No sound was heard within.
The youth entered,
Darning not a breath,
Longing to see Him.

And there He was!—His thin frame sprawled
While all the lights were dim.
The boy rushed to his teacher's side,
Desperate to touch Him.
"Severus!" he pled. "Severus!" he begged.
Blood stained the pale man.
"Severus!" he shrieked,
His heart in his throat.
Blood was staining Him.

It was too dark, He was too cold . . .
Why wouldn't He look at him?
The boy's hands shook as he tore at the robes
That separated them.
"Severus!" he screamed,
Tears now on his face,
"Wake up!" he cried to Him.
But the silence stayed, a dark rebuke,
A censure for loving Him.

"Forbidden," everyone had said,
But he hadn't believed them.
Forbidden, he knew and had not cared—
Not if it was for Him.
But now He lay, half on his lap,
Bleeding out, alone, at the end.
Forbidden they'd known,
And kissed and not cared
And kissed . . . Just he and Him.

Then black eyes opened, found and saw
The green eyes that burned within.
"He knew," He croaked through bloodstained lips.
"Punishe—" He choked, looking grim.
"Shhh, I know," the pale boy said.
"I know, was there, saw HIM . . .
It's okay. It's alright.
You're safe; I swear,"
He whispered gently to Him.

He choked and gasped, His dark eyes rolled.
Bluish and cold was His skin.
"I came back," He wheezed as the red blood flowed.
He'd come home to die with him.
And the boy held tight as his lover breathed last:
Punished for their sin.
"I came back."
The words seemed to echo on . . .
"I came back."
Yes, He'd come back to him.

Dawn broke cold and pale and dead.
Dawn broke and, doing so, broke them.
For he was spent, his lover dead,
And for what? Just loving him.
And down came Man with wands and Cures
That could be of no use to them.
And how shocked they were
To find this boy
Weeping . . . sobbing for Him.

They tore him away, demanded false truths,
They struggled to comprehend,
And with cruel propriety pressured the youth
Who would speak not a word to them.
The Old Man, from his tower emerged,
Swept him away, his blue eyes dim.
"Harry, my child,
What happened last night?"
But the boy could think only of Him.
Always only of Him . . .

Him on the floor. Him lying dead.
Him in his arms, cold and thin.
And so he spoke not, but bent every thought
To the ache—all he had left within.
"I came back," He'd choked out painfully.
"I came back," as He'd promised him.
But dawn had come
And He was now gone
All for the sake of him . . .

And every night after, until his death
Which ended a monster's reign,
When all was dark, still, and stark
He'd hear the sound of rain.
It was always raining; three am,
The stars would be blind and dim.
And a fey child'd come
A-wand'ring down,
All for the sake of Him.