A/N: Before you start yelling at me to finish my other FanFics….just know that I am TRYING….I've lost my fire for KH and APH…but I'm attempting to get back into them. This fanfiction stems from the great and awe inspiring works by J.K. Rowling….I have always loved the books and this is just my attempt to try and be like her…even if I fail horribly. =-=;; Each chapter will hopefully have a correlating song that goes with it. Just letting you know…I'm on a Dead by April, There for Tomorrow and Breathe Carolina binge fix…so the songs will most likely stem from there. Just a fun thing for me to do…as the songs will have helped me write the chapter.
Flame me if you really want to. I just read them and get a kick, however if you'd like to write a criticism (constructive or not) feel free, I love reviews…and positive ones too…
This will hopefully be the first and ONLY long A/N I have to write other than the whole R/R thingy that is standardly left at the bottom.
This has got to be the longest starting chapter I've ever accomplished…2,242 words nixing the A/N, Disclaimer, Titles and blah…I'll quit wasting your time and let you start reading….
S. Amaranth R. Blacktree
Disclaimer: The author of this fanfiction does not in any way shape or form own Harry Potter and subsequent characters that stem from this work. They belong to J.K. Rowling. I just humbly aspire to play with them. I'll clean them up and send them home when I've finished. Promise…
Warnings: M/M, Torture, Language, Manipulative Dumbledore, Underage, Creature Feature, Borderline Smut, MPREG!, Veela, Non-Con, Creature Inheritance, Child Abuse, SS/HP, Various Other Pairings (undecided as of now), Manipulated/Manipulative Ron and Hermione, not for Golden Trio Lovers, Dumbledore lovers. Warnings are subject to change at any time, I will inform you if this happens. Any other squicks or warnings will be announced. If you can't handle these…there's a back space button for a reason. Use it.
Crossroads of a Faint Memory
Chapter 1: My Savior
Song of choice: My Savior by Dead by April
A small pop and the small arena exploded in loud cheering and congratulations. No one seemed to notice that the forms of the two contestants were not moving or the soft sounds of whimpering sobs. As the crowd moved down from the stands, the Headmaster moved quickly to help the prone forms stand to receive their congratulations. As he moved ever closer his exuberance began to fade, twinkling blue eyes clouded with concern as he took in the bloody and battered bodies before him. Whipping out his wand he quickly fired off a shield charm and hurried to the boys on the ground. One of them had started to, finally, move. Small movements at first, then a slight turn and the face of Harry Potter was seen before he buried his face in the chest of the still prone body beside him. Thanks to the shield charm and his close proximity he could hear Harry's cries of denial and gut wrenching sobs.
"Harry?" The Headmaster called softly.
The boy raised his head slightly, green eyes flooded with tears.
"Professor Dumbledore, he-he's," a choking sob cutting off his words as he began to hiccup. Dumbledore knelt slowly and pulled Harry close, rubbing a soothing hand down Harry's back, over his shaking shoulder and found the glassy eyes of Cedric Diggory. A sharp inhalation later and he pulled Harry forward and looked into his pained face, gripping his shoulder as gently as he could.
"Harry…" He shook the boy as much as he dared. "Harry what happened? Who did this?" His voice was tight and laced with fear.
"Him." Harry muttered, his head slumped forward as if he had suddenly become boneless. "He's back. Voldemort's back!"
Blue eyes narrowed in response before he felt the shield fall and felt the presence of his teachers close in behind him, broken only when Cedric's father broke the ranks to get to his son.
Loud anguished cries echoed the stadium, as the man cradled his son. Leaning back to where he felt his Professors, he motioned for someone to take Harry. As a gnarled hand hoisted the boy up, he hurriedly made his way to the Diggory's as he used a privacy ward he turned and motioned for silence.
"If everyone would please return to the Castle. Quickly now." He turned to talk once again with Harry. Only to find he had vanished.
The world was a dark blur to Harry as he was hauled down a stone corridor. He could tell who was doing the hauling; the loud thump every other step giving it away.
Moody had him, where he was taking him he really didn't care. Anywhere away from where Cedric lay was a welcome place for Harry.
His legs didn't seem to want to work. His feet drug along the floor then up each step until they reached a plateau. In all the trip lasted probably only fifteen minutes, it seemed like years to Harry's disoriented mind. They finally stopped outside a door, the crack in Harry's glasses making the name plate blurry and unreadable.
The door creaked open and they shuffled in. Harry was dropped unceremoniously into a chair before Moody's fuzzy figure stumped off and he could hear the clink of bottles in the background, his eyes wandered around the darkened room, and despite his cracked glasses Harry could make out the blurred images of Moody's Foe Glass and various other objects littering the tables.
"How was it Potter?" Moody growled from the far room.
Harry's head swam as he whirled towards the voice. He couldn't understand what Moody was referring to.
"What?" He mumbled, his tongue felt heavy and it slurred the word. A rough chuckle, Moody moved back into the room a bottle clutched in his hand. He shoved it at the boy before checking the door and beginning to pace. He turned and saw that Harry had yet to drink the vial of fluid. He moved to his side and pushed it to the boys lips forcing him to drink the teal fluid. Once he had swallowed he went back to pacing.
Harry could feel the potion starting to work. His mind cleared slightly and he was able to focus his attention on the man before him.
Seeing that Harry was read to comprehend his words Moody began again.
"I asked you. How was it?" He grinned manically.
At Harry's look of confusion, he roared angrily. He rushed at the boy, placing his hands on the arms of the chair, blocking Harry from moving.
"I-I don't know w-what you want…What are you talking about?" Harry asked inching back into the chair.
The light in Moody's eyes became positively feral. He lowered his face to Harry's level and slowly opened his mouth.
"To be in that graveyard, the night the greatest Wizard know to the Magic World was reborn. And to be in the Ceremony that brought him back. Such an honor." Moody's breathless voice was filled with awe and his face lit up as he spoke.
Harry's face paled as his still slow mind placed the puzzle pieces in order.
"It was you!" He sputtered, "You put my name in the Goblet!"
Moody grinned gleefully. "That's right Potter. I put your name in the Goblet of Fire, I who persuaded that bumbling oaf Hagrid to show you the dragons. It was I who helped Diggory with the egg. I who eliminated most of the TriWizard Champions." He finished with a proud expression.
Harry's mind was reeling, "But…" he tapered off before starting again. "But why?"
Mad Eye's proud grin slipped and he reared back, "Why? WHY?" He roared. "Because I wanted, no, needed you to win."
Mindless of the other man's fury in his confusion Harry could only ask, "Why? Why would you need me to win? You're on Dumbledore's side."
Rage contorted Moody's face. "Idiot boy, I'm the reason you ended up in the Graveyard tonight. My Master required your presence. And I delivered you to him. He will reward me for my services. And now," He pulled his wand from his pocket, "Now I will finish the work my Master started." He slowly lowered the wand level with Harry's scar.
"Feel free to scream boy, in fact I encourage it. Everyone is busy, the door is warded and I have you alone. There is no one but me to hear you scream."
"Obcaeco!"
Harry's eyes widened as he saw the flash of spell light and everything went black.
Severus Snape was not a man prone to be nervous or anxious easily. However, he mused, now seemed an appropriate time to panic.
How exactly one was supposed to fall to pieces though…the entire process eluded him. He smirked at his train of thought all the while racing along the corridors of the School.
The subject of concern this time? As always, one Harry Potter. Though this time, Severus couldn't exactly place the blame on the boy seeing as the night had put him through the wringer. However he had quite a bone to pick with on Mad Eye Moody when he caught up to the pair.
As he reached the Defense floor his Spy Sense (as he fondly referred to it. (To himself only of course.).) started blaring. As he reached the door and let his magic wander he found out why. The magic warding the door was tinged with darkness and pain.
Raising his wand Severus set to work.
There was only darkness. Endless black, bursts of pain that popped like fireworks I his overworked brain. A cacophony of noise was nearly one unbroken keening note.
Maniacal laughter wove its way through the high pitched screaming that with a surge of will Harry finally managed to comprehend was coming from himself.
His throat was burning and the few blessed moments the burning pain faded were spent dragging in ragged breaths that in no way helped soothe his larnyx.
Something gripped the top of his head in one such pause. Floundering in the dark that was all he could see, Harry grappled with air as he was thrown forcefully. He tripped over something in his ungainly stumbling, he fell to his knees and his forehead clipped a corner. Something hot and wet ran freely down his face, as it dripped onto his lips he could taste the tangy copper of blood.
A shifting of a body caught his attention and he tried to crawl away from it. His body was sore and tired from the beatings and various curses that had been used, and was freely bleeding from many a laceration and other puncture wounds that littered his body.
A laughing chuckle before a muttered, "Repellendum," blasted Harry from his position on the floor and into a solid stone part of the room. Whether it was floor, ceiling or wall he couldn't correctly ascertain. His landing was a dull thud and the piercing cry of pain as something snapped.
Disorientated and in sickening pain Harry tried to crawl away from the echoing laughter that danced around him.
"Interficiam Altum!"
Harry writhed on the floor his head thrown back in silent screams as laceration after laceration shredded into his body. Blood soaked the tattered remains of his clothing and pooled under his mangled body.
He had lost hope that he was to be saved. Moody had been right. No one had come.
The panting hot breath of Moody leaned into whispher in his ear.
"Do you give? Do you surrender?"
Harry grinned slowly feeling more blood dripping down into his mouth as he did so.
"Never.." He hissed right back.
A roar of anger, more blossoms of pain flowering over his body as Mad Eye railed.
"Fractura!"
He could feel his ribs crack then give, his shoulders pop out of place, knuckles crackling and snapping. He gritted his teeth throughout, refusing to scream any longer.
He huffed in a breath before he heard the next spell.
"Amburo!"
It started off a tiny lick of flame in his fingers, and then grew until it felt like his entire body had been doused with acid and then thrown in a furnace. He couldn't help it, the pain was overwhelming,his scream rent the air before he dimly hear the next torture.
"Exsurdo!"
Before it hit he could hear a shout of surprise. The next moment he was lost in the feeling of pain, the smell of burning flesh, and the taste of blood as his only senses, whimpering Harry felt something deep inside snap as the darkness closed in.
The wards on the door were proving to be many and extremely difficult to crack. He strained and to his satisfaction one finally snapped. That is, until he heard the high pitched screams that were now able to escape the room beyond. His stature tightened and he ferociously began to hack at the wards, listening to the pained screams that were becoming louder and louder the more wards he dismantled. He was draining quickly. The wards proving to be stronger that he had anticipated, but he worked furiously harder trying to get through.
Finally, what seemed like ages later he brought down the last one with a sigh. He steeled himself and pushed open the door forcefully.
At first glance he could only see Mad Eye, and as he watched Moody raised his wand, seemingly not to have heard the door slam open.
"Exsurdo!"
Snape's reaction time was hindered by the two milliseconds he took to see where the spell light was flying towards before casting his own spell.
Taken by surprise Moody had only time to express his surprised rage before the spell light connected and sent him flying into a wall with a sickening crunch.
Assured that Moody was not going to be moving anytime soon, Severus followed the gruesome path of blood and the stench of burning flesh till he found huddled behind a shattered and slightly smoldering desk the prone body of Harry Potter. Despite the many appalling and gut wrenching injuries he was still recognizable.
The mighty Potions Master and Bat of the Dungeons whirled around and voided his stomach contents as he took in the copious and violently decorated body of his charge.
His eyes were glazed over, the once vibrant green dull and pain fogged. Blood seemed to seep from everywhere and he could tell that several of the boy's bones had been snapped. Severus picked his way through the destroyed office and fell to his knees beside the boy.
The spells of diagnostic testings were the first of many to all from his lips. Stasis spells, heart monitor charms, blood clotting aides along with others filled the space above the boy as he waited for the diagnostic test to complete.
As mall flash and Severus was able to grab the long parchment floating. His eyes rand down the hefty list, widening ever so often as he took in all the damage that Potter had sustained in such a short period of time. A multitude of lacerations ranging from shallow to alarmingly deep, twelve fractures, two sprained joints, both shoulders had been dislocated, his eyes and ears had been rendered useless with the aid of dark magic.
Most worrying of all, Harry had succumbed to Magic exhaustion and had slipped into a healing coma.
He began casting a variety of healing spells trying to begin the agonizing task of putting Harry Potter back together.
A/N: Well…I hope you enjoyed that…=-= the next chapter is under construction. I am ACTIVELY looking for a beta for not only this story but some of my others. Email me if you are interested.
My muse Ty and I thank you.
S.A.R.B.
R/R !