A/N: Hi guys, forgive me for the short chapter but i just had to get this one off my chest before exams, it was bothering me...
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Harry knew that at some point after he had fallen asleep, Severus had carried him to Severus' bedroom and lay down beside him; so when Harry turned in his sleep, he had expected to encounter the warm body of his lover but instead woke up to the cold empty sheets.
It was still dark outside but Harry didn't think that it would be anything even close to morning since they had retired rather early in the day so he assumed that Severus was busy with some work or the other.
Harry crept through the passageway to Severus' office as quietly as he could, intent on surprising the man and even luring him back to bed again so he was absolutely satisfied when he opened the door and noticed that Severus had not heard him come in.
Severus sat with at his desk with his head in his hands, eyes closed and seemed to be in deep thought; Harry had once questioned whether maybe he should not disturb the harmony but brushed that thought aside when he thought of ways that Severus could perhaps punish him if he wished to do so.
Harry sneaked up behind Severus and managed to wind his arms around the mans form and bestow a huge kiss on his cheek before he was flung back onto the wall and faced with the mans wand pointing at him. On second thought, sneaking up on a former spy may not have been one of his brightest ideas.
Harry dared to look up into the dark eyes which looked to be clearing and the man seemed to be lowering down all of his shields once again upon seeing who his attacker was.
"Heyyyy Sev," tried Harry after a while.
"Harry- what in the world were you thinking? I thought that you were someone else, an intruder even…" he broke off and reached out to pull Harry closer to him, "When did you even wake up?"
Harry smiled as he felt Severus' arms close around him and felt rather silly now that Severus had said all that, "Uhm… I actually woke up 'cause you weren't there and I wanted to come find you… sorry…"
He looked up, green eyes wide with uncertainty and Severus couldn't find it in him to actually be mad at the young man in his arms, "Don't ever do that again Harry, I cannot imagine what would have happened had I actually fired a curse a you and I apologize for leaving you all alone but there was something which require my immediate attention."
Harry smiled and drew back a little, "Is something wrong?"
Severus debated on how much to tell Harry and settled on the truth without much of the details, "I am actually waiting for an answer on that at this moment, I am uncertain."
Harry remembered the manner in which the usually composed man was sitting when he had walked in but before he could say anything on the matter, a majestic looking grey owl flew in through the open window landing on the backrest of Severus' chair.
"That will be my answer," said Severus as he advanced to retrieve the parchment from the owl and proceeded to read it.
In the meantime, Harry had moved forward to go stroke the beautiful, plush feathers of the bird; realising in an instant that the owl was strikingly familiar.
"Say Sev, who does this owl belong to?"
Severus still being in the process of reading the letter and not really wanting Harry to know in the first place merely dismissed the question with a wave of his hand, "It is not of importance."
Harry glared at his lover before turning back to the owl and studying it carefully; the grey feathers splashed with a few black spots here and there, could be any ones really except for that crown shaped mark on the feathers underneath its wing.
Harry's' eyes turned wide as the owl stretched her wings and the realisation hit him, "Malfoy!"
Severus' head shot at up that, "What?"
"Malfoy- that's Dracos owl, I remember from it from school and the few times I met him in the owlery," he seemed to think first then asked, "Severus, whose owl is this? Who sent you the letter?"
Severus knew better than to lie to Harry at this point so he replied, "It is Dracos, yes."
"So you guys are still in contact? What's happened then? Is everything okay?"
"Harry, there is something which you should know and there is of course no easy way to say this to you so I ask for your patience as I relay the entire story to you. Can you give me that?"
By then, Harry's mind was in overdrive; there were so many things going through it that he had no idea what could make Severus so nervous to even tell him about but nevertheless, he nodded his head and cleared his mind, ready to listen to Severus.
Severus smiled slightly before shrugging off the outer robe he wore over his clothes and wrapping it around Harry who was clad in just his boxer shorts. Harry smiled brightly at him before he allowed Severus to lead him to the chair to sit while Severus leaned against the desk to his left.
"When you had told me that there were indeed a group of dark wizards out there who were threatening you and had allowed me to read the notes, I noticed that the name was very familiar,"
"Ultio Ultionis?"
"Yes," he sighed before continuing, "I recognize the name because when Draco did eventually send me a letter telling me of his occupation, which is somewhat like an auror but more on a toned down scale seeing that he lives in a rather small wizarding area, he mentioned to me of a group he was assigned to keep an eye on,"
He paused to take in Harry's expression which still betrayed no emotion, "It was becoming increasingly worrying seeing that there were not any attacks but rather more and more wizards, pureblood wizards, who started to sport a mark of three stars on the side of their necks. Of course, the Ministry of Magic started to go into a panic since the last time purebloods were marked, we were faced with the problem of Voldemort," he grimaced as he said the name.
"Wait, how long have they known for? It can't be that long or they would have informed me seeing that I was in their auror programme or they would have let Ron know, who would have eventually told me."
"I came into knowledge of this a little less than a year from when I had first met you in your bookstore," Severus noticed Harry's eyes fill up with tears at the mention of his beloved store, "And I believe that the reason as to why Mr Weasley has not informed you of this is because no one else in the ministry was alerted of the danger," Harry scoffed and Severus frowned at him.
"You'd swear that Amelia was working under Umbridge in the ministry, not a day went by where I didn't see Amelia overturn at least one decision to suit Dolores! She's the Minister for Merlins sake!" said Harry exasperated.
"You think that it is due to Dolores' interference?"
"Has to be, why else would she keep it quiet that there's a possible new Dark Lord rising? She's had half her family murdered by the maniac so she of all people would be the first to stand up against a new threat."
Severus pondered on Harry's words for a few moments before picking up his explanation where he left off, "The case was assigned to Dracos task force instead as it was rumoured that that was nearest to the place where all of the strange happenings were taking place."
"Okay so the Ministry hushes up a possible threat by discarding the investigation to a little wizarding towns' task force and then what? Did Draco find something?"
Before Severus could even start to answer however, Harry started speaking again, "And why, Severus, did you not think to tell me this earlier? We've been here for a while now, in this house I mean, and you've been teaching me to regain my magic again so how is it that it slips your mind to tell me that you know more than I do on the people after my life?"
Severus knew that Harry was beginning to lose his temper, he could almost feel it radiating off the young man, "Harry, I did not mean to keep such information from you but for a long while I as well only knew as much as you; the correspondence between myself and Draco only started to become frequent recently."
Harry was still glaring at him so he took the plunge, "I told him about the attempts on you and about the bookstore, he has been investigating things for a while now, more intensely and closely than ever now that he knows how personal it has become."
Harry got up off his chair and started pacing, "So Draco is investigating this group, but how exactly is he even getting any information?"
Severus expected a ranting from Harry about the fact that he had been discussing him with Draco but fortunately for him, it didn't come, "The Malfoys are still regarded as a highly ranked pureblood family even after the results of the war therefore they have already been persuaded to join this new alliance-"
Harry interrupted him, "WHAT? That means that Malfoy knows who's behind this already! Why the hell are we still here Severus?"
Harry was about to make his way to the door before Severus grabbed his arm bringing him to a harsh stop, "Do not be foolish Harry, do you really think that a group of people out for revenge would reveal their identities freely after all of the intricate detail they have put into strengthening their ranks? Do you think that they would just offer themselves up for arrest this easily? Are you honestly willing to believe that they are going around revealing their identities and exchanging pleasantries with those they want to recruit? These are possibly former Death Eaters Harry; cunning, cruel and even stupid But. Never. Careless."
Severus spat the last word out in a low, hissing snarl; he knew that he was bound to lose his temper with the Gryffindor at some point in the future since his sense of calm was leaving him rapidly but he had never thought it would return with such a vengeance.
Harry looked affronted for a few seconds but held his ground irrespective, "Do not speak to me like a child Snape! Don't you dare even think of treating me like you did in school," he paused and watched satisfied as the older mans expression turned to one of absolute guilt, it was a below the belt blow but Severus had it coming, "Answer me this, how is Draco communicating with them if he has no idea who they are?"
Severus felt like ignoring the question seeing that Harry had indeed stooped so low but chose to not be childish, "They have their means of communication Harry, with Draco it is via owl," he chose to stop there, "Harry, Draco is trying to get out of them as much information as he can without blatantly turning them down or accepting their offer but it is only a matter of time until he is found out so please Harry, I ask of you, be rational, remain here with me and allow me to continue your lessons until we know enough to retaliate."
Harry inhaled deeply, his anger dissipating slowly, "Why haven't they contacted you yet? If they are former Death Eaters, they would more than likely want Voldemorts loyal follower at their side," Harry didn't mean for it to come out so coldly but somehow there was no other way to put it.
Severus shuddered at Harrys' words, "I am a half-blood and they are recruiting pure bloods," he said simply.
"But Voldemort trusted you, why wouldn't they?"
"Really Harry, you are asking me this even after you were the one who cleared my name? Besides, I was of use to the Dark Lord as a spy just as I was to Albus."
Both men winced at the mention of the old wizard, "Would you go though, if they asked that is?"
Just then the forgotten owl hooted loudly, "I was supposed to send my reply," stated Severus as he moved back to his chair and picked up the note once again, remembering full force what the whole point of the conversation with Harry was.
"Harry, there's one more thing; you know how the Dark Lord despised muggleborns?"
Harry nodded so he got straight to it knowing full well that the longer he dragged it out, the harder it was going to become to say out loud, "They have got Hermione."
Xxx
Harry was damn sure that he had heard wrong, "Pardon Severus, what did you just say?"
"Miss Granger- Mrs Weasley, they managed to capture her as a hostage; I'm sorry Harry."
"What- no no no no no… Hermione? But she's here and they are… no no no… Severus, where does Draco live?" he asked all of a sudden.
"A little town in Australia."
"No! Damn it! Fuck, Australia, this cannot be happening! That's where she and Ron went for their honeymoon," Harry wiped his hand over his face and bonelessly sagged down to the floor leaning against Severus' desk.
Severus slipped off his chair and kneeled down in front of Harry, "I am really sorry but there is nothing that could have been done."
Harry nodded slowly and got to his feet heading out of the office, "Harry, don't!"
"Relax Severus, I'm just going to go downstairs, I need to think."
Severus nodded and held his tongue, he didn't think that Harry would appreciate him starting another disagreement, especially not when he was this out of sorts; he decided to give Harry the benefit of the doubt and let him go with a nod, knowing that as soon as he sent his reply off, he would be back at Harrys' side.
Xxx
When Severus descended the staircase, he was glad to see that Harry had kept his promise and was still there but it pained him to see the way that the young man was curled up on the couch, shivering slightly.
He silently summoned a drink for both himself and Harry before walking up to him and offering it. Dazed, red-rimmed green eyes looked up at him before rasping out, "I need to see Ron, I need to see him right now."
Xxx
Severus knew that Harry would request to see his best friend and he had thought out the entire conversation very carefully in order to discourage the young man; it wasn't going to be easy but it sure as hell was possible. Now however, when he gazed down him, all of his resolve left him and he just wished he could take Harry away from all of this but he knew that the only thing that would satisfy Harry now was him heeding to the young mans' requests.
"Harry, it's late and it is also dangerous," he decided to put up a little fight, "Your magic is not fully under your control yet so you cannot go out there in the open, not when it has become so personal."
"That's exactly why I have to go out there Severus, right now, because it has become so personal. All this time I didn't want people to rely on me and make demands and impose on my life, but look where that's got me!" he gestured around him, "I am in a safe house while my best friends wife is in the clutches of some group intent on taking my life! They could be torturing her! They could be- they might have already-" he broke off and let out all of the tears which had been threatening to fall since he had heard the news.
Severus put an arm around Harry and pulled him close, "Do not speak like Harry, have hope. Grang- Hermione is a completely capable witch and the world would turn to ice sooner than she would allow another to walk all over her."
Harry wiped his face in Severus' shirt as he spoke, "You didn't see her, and you didn't see her during the war Severus! I still hear her screams in my nightmares; see her face as Bellatrix tortured her. I- I can't let her die Sev, I can't…"
If Severus allowed himself, he would be crying just as hard as Harry but he had to stay strong and he had to help; if help meant taking Harry to his best friend, then so be it.
"I believe that Ronald is back at the burrow and if you wish, I can do the necessary charms to assist in an appropriate disguise for you and accompany you to see him."
Harry shifted so that he could look at Severus properly, "You would let me go?" he asked in disbelief.
Severus smiled a little, "Anything to make you happy Harry."
Harry smiled at him, no where close to the kind of smiles that were associated with the young man, before burying his face once again in Severus' robes. And as Severus felt rather than heard the sobs racking through Harrys' body, he knew that he would do anything and everything just to see Harry happy again, just to see that smile and hear that laugh because everything aside, Severus Snape had fallen hard.
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