Disclaimer from the Prologue applies: All characters and the HP universe belong to JKR, we are only borrowing them for our entertainment.
Disclaimer 2: This is NOT MY STORY, it's a translation of Lilyanjudyth's original work written in Hungarian. I'm posting it here with her permission.
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Chapter 7. Without hope, Part 2
Waking well-rested seemed a novel experience to Harry. He could barely recall the last time he slept through the night uninterrupted. Surveying the room drowsily with half-open eyes he glimpsed Trenus right next to his bed on the nightstand.
"Good morning, young master," greeted the candle.
"Good morning…" came the dazed response. Harry did feel rested, but at the same time he was also incredibly sleepy. "What time is it?"
"If I'm not mistaken, it's just a few minutes past noon."
Harry suddenly jumped out of bed.
"What, noon already?" Taking account of his clothing he realized that he was still wearing his outfit from the day before. "I need to wash up fast, I can't go down to Hagrid like this." He wasn't concerned so much about his looks; rather about Hagrid getting worried if he saw him looking so disheveled.
"Hey, calm down!" Trenus tried to interrupt, before the boy worked himself into a panic. "Severus already let Hagrid know that you weren't going for a visit today."
That got Harry to stop halfway to the shower with his towel in hand.
"What?" he exclaimed shocked. "I don't believe it! Snape wants to keep me from all my friends? Lock me up with nothing but homework for company?"
Trenus stopped on his way to the door, and moved to float right in front of the boy.
"No, not at all. He simply arranged for you to get some rest," he lifted to eye-level and continued earnestly. "Don't you see? Severus is concerned about your well-being, with everything that's happened."
This appeared to incense the boy even further.
"My well-being? But I'm completely healthy, unlike most people around!" he snapped. The candle floated threateningly close to his face.
"Of course you are," said Trenus in an overtly patronizing tone, before turning serious. "Not sleeping and nightmares every night is not exactly a sign of coping. So stop searching for evil intent, and appreciate a good night's rest for what it was!"
"Just leave me alone!" replied Harry somewhat deflated, and shutting the bathroom door firmly he left the exasperating Trenus hanging in mid-air.
After showering he returned to his room to find the candle still where he left it.
"Don't you have anything to do?"
"As a candle, what do you think?" retorted Trenus unmoved. "Severus says, that once you are up, you are to meet him in the lab. He will be there waiting for you."
Harry, muttering something unintelligible under his nose, picked up a thicker sweater and walked over to the lab.
He found Snape standing by his workbench like the day before, though the ruins surrounding him have been cleaned up. The potions master held up two vials, intently observing them by the torchlight.
"Good morning," he greeted, lifting up his eyes to look at the boy.
"Not anymore, thanks to you," grumbled Harry, and walked over to sit on one of the chairs lined up along the wall. The desk was covered with a seemingly disordered pile of encyclopedias and unrolled scrolls of parchment. Snape returned his attention to the vials, and tipped them simultaneously into a cauldron, stepping back to avoid the fumes.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
Harry lifted heavy lidded eyes.
"No," he mumbled. "Just terribly sleepy."
A self-satisfied smirk settled on the potions master's face.
"That may be a side-effect of a slight overdose of the Dreamless Sleep potion," he announced haughtily. Then covering the cauldron he walked closer to the boy and stopped in front of him. Leaning back against the edge of the desk he observed Harry intently. "Would you care to elaborate a bit more?"
The boy glared at him accusingly.
"What kind of questions are these?" he snapped. "I'm perfectly fine! My hands aren't shaking, I have no fever, and I'm not hallucinating either. No trace of the symptoms. I'm not sick at all!"
Snape raised his eyebrows questioningly.
"You forgot to mention your nightmares."
"Because it's nobody's business that I keep dreaming about…" Harry shut his mouth before accidentally slipping up. He absently noted that the drowsiness wasn't helping his self-control any.
"No, they are not my business. But the fact that you are suffering from them is. Do you agree?" the professor continued unrelenting. "I admit I may have misjudged you. You aren't the attention-seeking brat I thought you were. But there are situations in which one should accept the help offered."
Harry stared at Snape in stunned silence.
"It's fine. I've always been like this," he said defensively, casting his eyes at the floor, unable to face the man in front of him. "It's just that people don't notice."
"Perhaps," acknowledged Snape letting go of the table. He nodded for Harry to stand. "Come, I need to examine you closer."
Harry stood hesitating for a moment, and then taking a step he stopped in front of the potions master.
"You mean, to find out why I'm not sick?" he asked curiously, but Snape just nodded. He cupped the boy's face turning his head toward the light as he observed him with narrowed eyes.
"You are not even pale," he stated with some surprise. Then holding Harry's eyelids open he incanted a Lumos and proceeded to point his wand at the boy's eyes. "I don't see any sign of the infection."
"But I was there when the first student at Hogwarts got sick," Harry responded quietly.
"I know," the professor continued by carefully palpating the lymph nodes on the boy's neck, and Harry began to suspect that the potions master was not unfamiliar with the job of a healer. "Hold out your hands."
He obediently extended them, but there weren't even the faintest tremors to be seen.
"Sir, what does this mean?" asked Harry after a short while, because his hands were getting tired. "Why am I not sick?"
"I'm not sure. Let me test one more thing," said Snape stepping up to the other workbench. "Come here."
Harry complied taking a few steps, but stopped when he saw the needle in the potions master's hand.
"I will need a few drops of your blood," informed the man raising his eyebrows in question. "It won't hurt."
The boy looked at him accusingly closing the distance between them.
"I know, just startled me is all…I'm not particularly fond of needles. Oi!" he cried out when Snape pricked his skin and applied pressure to collect a few drops of blood in a glass vial. "It won't hurt…yeah, right."
"You have pulled through far worse things than this, uncomplaining I might add," sighed the professor. "Did you not?"
"I have the annoying feeling that this wasn't the last time I will hear that from you," yawned Harry as he watched Snape carefully add a drop of the blood to a bubbling cauldron. Then the professor turned away to place the vial onto the neighboring desk. Harry stepped up to the cauldron curiously to get a better view of the potion. The viscous liquid appeared unchanged at first, then it began to froth and bubble violently.
"Sir, is it supposed to do that?"
"Potter, watch out!" exclaimed Snape and he grabbed Harry by the arm forcing him to duck, as he pulled him along to the distant wall shielding the boy with his body.
They arrived just in time. The potion exploded with a deafening boom spraying all the way to the ceiling, and Harry could feel the hot pressure on his eardrums as the gases from the concoction filled up the room.
A moment later Snape let go of him and they both turned around to survey the room. The potions master drew in a sharp breath as he took in the extent of the damage.
"Professor…sir why did it do that?" choked out Harry, terrified. It didn't take much to realize that his blood caused the explosion.
The potions master walked closer to examine the cauldron, levitating it up for a better view he replied evenly:
"Something in your blood reacted with the potion…whatever it was."
Harry swallowed nervously in response.
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Days passed, and Snape still didn't have an explanation for what happened in the lab, at least not one he was willing to share. The professor did warn Harry not to take any detours when returning from his daily visits to Hagrid, saying it was dangerous for him to be wandering around alone.
Every time Harry brought up the question of his mysterious immunity to the disease, the potions master religiously avoided answering. Harry found it terribly suspicious that the events in the lab coincided with the professor's sudden insistence that he should not spend any time alone. He quickly deduced that someone was out for his blood, in this case literally.
This was the main reason for his unusual obedience to Snape. In fact he was walking back from Hagrid's hut with his wand drawn, ready to cast a Protego if necessary. Having used the moving staircases to descend to the dungeons, Harry was making his way toward his room when he heard a strange noise…like someone flushing the toilet. Except it was becoming louder, soon resembling the sound of a waterfall.
Harry stood alarmed, looking toward the end of the hallway where the sound appeared to be coming from. A moment later he could see the source of the rumble. It was definitely not a flooding toilet: the water gushing in at the end of the hallway was at least a foot deep and rapidly rising.
This was enough to get Harry into motion, and he took off toward the other end of the corridor. Looking back he could see more and more water streaming in, and he wondered where it could be coming from. Certainly not the plumbing, it was simply too much for that. The lake was a possibility, and he fleetingly considered the depth of the Hogwarts dungeons.
A moment later he realized that he was running in the wrong direction, the passage would only get him deeper underground. He knew that Snape wouldn't be in his chambers; the professor told him that they would be transporting the patients from the infirmary to St. Mungo's today, before the school closed completely.
He was about to turn around ready to wade through the water, when the realization came: that all of Snape's work to heal Harry's friends would be lost…
"It's bloody freezing…" muttered Harry, his teeth chattering, as he set out toward Snape's room again. He would save at least the professor's notes.
By the time he reached the potions master's chambers the water level was up to his waist. Shaking from the cold he wrestled the main door open. Inside almost everything was underwater.
"Tre…Trenus!" yelled Harry suddenly remembering the wacky candle.
Without waiting for an answer he trudged to the lab to find anything that he could still save. Grabbing a trunk from the storeroom he levitated it on top of the workbench and began collecting every parchment and lexicon in sight. Tossing them into the trunk he shut the lid and waterproofed it just in time, as the water flooded the desk. He stuffed away his wand to free both his hands, and grabbed anything else that seemed important as he made his way out.
"I'm so glad to see you, young master!" said Trenus floating in front of the door. Harry looked up with his hands full.
"Have you gone completely bonkers?!" he yelled gasping for air as the freezing-cold water shook his whole body. "Why are you still here, can't you see…that any moment…this whole place will be flooded?"
"I was waiting for someone to get me. I thought Severus would be here soon."
"Well, you thought wrong," with that he dropped the things from his left hand and grabbed the candle unceremoniously. "We have to leave, now!"
Turning swiftly, he was brought to a halt by a cool voice.
"Drop everything you are holding, Potter. Then lift your hands, so I can see them both!"
Harry let go of the books and slowly turned to face the invader. Lucius Malfoy stood in the main door with his wand pointed directly at Harry's heart. The man was soaking wet, but his victorious smile revealed that he didn't feel inconvenienced by the flood.
"Put down that candle as well," he spat.
Harry was about to comply when the bookshelf in the living room came crashing down, unbalanced by the currents. He took advantage of Malfoy's momentary distraction by flipping Trenus and swinging it with full force at Malfoy's head. Lucius went down with a cry, collapsing into the water.
"Sorry Trenus."
"I think I have a concussion," groaned the candle.
"I said sorry," replied Harry as he went to check on Lucius. The man appeared to be unconscious, and after a moment of hesitation Harry propped him up against the wall to prevent him from drowning. Then he got out his wand to summon the trunk from the lab. Levitating it out through the door he followed it slowly.
"Stupefy!" Harry heard the spell from behind, and he tried to jump but the deep water aborted his movements, and he ended up executing an inelegant fall. Fortunately this was enough, since the spell missed him hitting a cabinet.
"Harry, watch out!" warned Trenus, but it was too late. The cabinet tipped forward and landed on the boy's leg with a loud splash, effectively forcing him to stay in a sitting position.
He tried to free his legs, but the ancient piece of furniture proved to be much too heavy. The water covered Harry up to his chin, and he watched helplessly as Malfoy sent Trenus flying with a spell. The candle hit the wall with a loud thwack, dropping into the water.
Malfoy slowly walked up to Harry, flashing a predator's smile at him as he pulled out a dagger from his robes.
"Well, well, well, Mr. Potter…after all you are not as lucky as you are rumored to be. The Dark Lord sent me for your blood, and he doesn't insist on personally taking your life anymore. I was granted the honor of doing away with you whichever way I prefer," explained Lucius smirking. Bending closer to Harry he grabbed his arm and cut it deeply with the dagger along the veins. Harry cried out as the blade bit into his skin.
"Just scream, no one can hear you. We made sure that everyone would be occupied with evacuating the castle. Oh, well. Dumbledore can't always be where he is needed, and since all the students are away…and your friends won't be coming to save you either."
Harry listened shivering as his blood dripped into the cold water.
"You bastard…you won't get away with this," choked out the boy, his voice hoarse. "What do the students have to do with this anyway?"
"Oh, you didn't know? Dumbledore is not powerful enough to protect the school alone," Malfoy continued his speech while he held up Harry's arm to collect some of the blood into a vial. The boy bit down on his tongue to hold back a scream as Lucius pressed around the wound to elicit faster blood-flow. "The wards around the school rely on the children within, the more children, the stronger the protection. Did Dumbledore forget to mention that he steals the magic of his students?"
Meanwhile the water level continued rising slowly, and Harry had to lift his chin to breathe through his mouth. He was beginning to lose feeling in his legs, whether it was due to the freezing water or the cabinet crushing them was impossible to tell.
"That's it. It was my pleasure Mr. Potter," mocked Lucius, and capping the vial he pocketed it. Then he looked around them innocently. "Oh, damn, there is nobody to pull you out from there. How regrettable. And now, if you will excuse me."
With that, he walked off leaving Harry trapped.
"Tre…Trenus…" he called out for the candle weakly, but no answer came, and he wasn't sure where the candle fell.
The water was rising alarmingly, and he could barely hold himself straight.
A few moments later the water covered his mouth. He tried to stretch desperately, panicking as his nostrils got immersed as well.
Holding back his breath Harry could only hope that drowning wasn't very painful. He was running out of air quickly, and he hoped that someone would pull him out soon. But no one came and out of breath he began to gulp water frantically… then everything went black.
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"Harry! Harry, breathe for God's sake!" shouted a voice compelling him to abandon the darkness. He gasped for air as someone turned him onto his side. He coughed persistently spitting out the water coming from his lungs.
Finally Harry was able to open his eyes, and he recognized the figure kneeling at his side.
"Prof…pro…essor," he was shaking uncontrollably from the cold, and it took an overwhelming effort to move his tongue. "Malfoy…'s here…he was here."
"I know Harry," said Snape soothingly and he wrapped Harry into a frayed, but thankfully warm, blanket. "It's all right. We will go somewhere safe."
Harry recognized the Hogwarts hallway, and he could feel water under his back. They couldn't be far from the dungeons.
"He cut…my arm…," His words were barely understandable through the chatter of his teeth. "blood, he…took blood…from me." He felt very tired and yawning deeply he closed his eyes. He could get a bit of sleep, and after that he would recount everything to Snape. "'m very sleepy."
Snape had been occupied with Harry's wound, but noticing the boy drift off he grabbed his shoulders to shake him.
"Harry, listen to me! You need to stay awake."
" 'm sorry, professor…awf'lly sleepy," he mumbled.
"Harry, open your eyes!" ordered Snape firmly, but Harry allowed sleep to claim him; to take him away from the cold.
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