The Nightmare Man
Summary: In the depths of the Ministry, there is a cell for the world's most dangerous man… and he wants out.
Pairing/s: None.
Warnings: Time travel, OOC-characters, Light!bashing, Twisted!Harry, Evil!Harry, violence, mention of gore. Yeah, stuff like that.
Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter nor do I make any money writing this.
-o-
Thank you for all the reviews! Some commented about the garden, but I'm keeping the exact nature of it hidden for a little while longer.
Enjoy this chapter!
-o-
Chapter Nine
The weather changed from warm autumn to the bitter start of a hard winter. Hogwarts ran smoothly while the rest of magical Britain started becoming more and more unstable.
The Ministry of Magic was conducting hunts for an ill omen, a creature of the old ages described as a nightmare, a plague. Cornelius Fudge provided with a sketch of the man since there was no photos of this horrible thing. There was not even a name to go with the man, only a title. The Nightmare Lord.
So people saw the face every day. It was in Diagon Alley, the Ministry, the magical villages and even a few in Knockturn Alley. The sketch was good, showing the details, enough so that he would be easily recognized.
Still, Voldemort, the Dark Lord who sort of got pushed to the side for the moment, disagreed with the sketch. Harrison had far more… well, power, if he used the first word that came into his mind. Harrison's presence bore more power and madness, a great fear and a lot of respect. A mere sketch did not do the man justice, Voldemort concluded.
And the eyes were wrong. They were lifeless in this sketch, not like Harrison's real ones… at first, when they first met Voldemort had seen nothing but a deep hatred and a brilliant but insane man in those eyes. But as time went on, they softened. Harrison became more human, free of that cell he had spent hundreds of years inside. He didn't lose his insanity, or his hatred, but he was, well… he was more kind to those who mattered.
Voldemort knew exactly what he was in Harrison's eyes. A child. An eager one, but still a child nonetheless. He was perhaps the child Harrison never had, if Voldemort felt like wondering if Harrison was capable of caring that much for another human being.
He should be able to. There was love in his eyes when he watched his servants. Voldemort knew Dumbledore considered him incapable of loving, but found it not quite true. He could love. He had just chosen not to.
Harrison had probably done the same at one point. Chosen not to love another living being.
Voldemort glanced over at one of the sketches again. They had started to show up a few days ago so Harrison should know about it already. He himself had been busy and wasn't aware that they were up until Lucius Malfoy notified him earlier today. He had gone out to see for himself and found them everywhere.
He himself apparently wasn't as important. No one, not even Albus Dumbledore had ever bothered trying to show Voldemort's face. Maybe because they didn't know which face was his real one. Voldemort liked to confuse them.
He drank up his coffee and left Diagon Alley, walking leisurely through the alley and moved past Sirius and Remus who had stopped at the Quidditch shop. Voldemort didn't turn around much, just enough to grin at the sight of them completely unaware who had just walked past them.
-o-
James and Sirius had started the habit of coming to Hogwarts, using the excuse of being worried for the safety of the children to be able to stick around. The Ministry actually posted a few more Aurors in addition to them, and Dumbledore allowed his Order to patrol the grounds.
They began to hold more meetings and despite James' protests, Severus was allowed to sit in on them. The man was barely able to give them any information about Voldemort and his plans, much less if Voldemort and the Nightmare Lord were working together. In their eyes, he had grown from a formidable spy into nothing but a simple teacher. Many dismissed even his skills as a potions master. The only ones who remained on his side were Lily and many of the students, who knew nothing of his spying and much more about his skills in potion making.
It wasn't like Severus looked even remotely interested while these meetings were going on. He wrote teaching plans or, to the anger of many members, corrected essays in his corner of Albus' office or wherever they held the meetings. He never requested to be there but Albus was the one to insist. James couldn't understand why. Sirius didn't care about understanding, he just wanted to curse the hell out of Severus and forbid him to come back to the meetings unless he had something about Voldemort to share with them.
However, one meeting they discussed theories whether the Nightmare Lord had joined forces with Voldemort, and one wild theory was that they together would raise Inferi armies and kill whole Muggle towns.
"I seriously doubt that," Severus said, startling them.
"What?" James said.
"I seriously doubt that if they team up they will kill whole Muggle towns with Inferi," the potions master said, looking up from his grading.
"What makes you say that?" Albus said.
"You don't have to be a genius to figure it out, or have the Dark Lord telling you that," he continued. "There hasn't been an attack on any Muggle towns for a while now. In fact, the only place that the Dark Lord has attacked is magical places. What does that tell you?"
"He's crazy!" Sirius said.
"He's separating the magical world from the Muggle one," Severus said, looking at them all. "As I have always told you, Albus, he doesn't believe in the fact that Muggles knowing about magic is a good thing. Why expose magic by attacking their towns, and their people?"
"You have a good point there," Albus said. "It's true he hasn't kept up with his past actions of attacking Muggles. Neither have we heard of the Nightmare Lord attacking Muggles, despite it being quite a fond sport of his before his capture."
Severus snorted and returned to his grading.
"Something funny about that?!" James said.
"Attacking Muggles being a sport?" Severus said. "It sounded quite silly, that's all."
"Well, that's what he did!"
"Any reason as to why he did it?"
"Because he's evil, Snape!"
"Is that all?" Severus said. "No further reason to this lord's madness? He's evil?"
"Yes," James ground out. "What other reason could he have to kill the innocent?!"
"Perhaps he's mad," Severus admitted, "but if he's as clever as rumours have it, I doubt he kills without any reason at all. Perhaps he had a reason to dislike Muggles."
"Reason doesn't matter now," Albus said, holding up his hands. "He's not killing them now, and that in itself is quite worrying. What could he be planning?"
Severus returned once more to his grading and didn't offer any further comments.
-o-
If Albus was worried about Harrison's future plans, well… the worry was justified. Harrison seldom planned anything good when it was about Light people. And since the current Ministry basically consisted of Light people, whatever Harrison was planning wasn't good at all.
But at this very moment, he wasn't planning any invasions, or attacks, or killing. He was planning a garden. Not a garden with flowers, or bushes, or even herbs. His gardens tended to be a bit more peculiar than that.
First of all, he didn't have everything he needed for his garden so all he was doing was tearing up the earth and preparing for it. He sought out a rather large plain on his grounds for it and kept going for half a day, until it was a mess of earth and grass strewn around. The cold weather was only a good thing; he had tried in the past to make gardens in the summer and they turned out absolutely horrible. The winter was almost an ingredient in itself for his garden to grow.
But he needed soil, and not just earthen soil. The seeds were easy to get. Harrison created them from his own body and magic. In the past, he had had a huge plot of land filled with what the seeds grew into, but as with any other garden, it could get burned. And his old gardens were burned by those who hunted him, and those who simply hated what he did.
What he created from the gardens.
Harrison smiled as he looked over the place. He would need Muggles for this, but as Lucian had suggested, he could just cover it up. The world now, while standing on the brink of technology, was still a mystery. People vanished without a trace every day.
He just had to make a whole lot of them vanish. Maybe Christian would be of some use, helping Elise and the others gather the amount Harrison needed.
He brushed off the dirt on his robe and sauntered back inside. Elise stopped and stared at him, then down at his clothes.
"Have you been playing in the dirt, master?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied. "Digging in fact. Elise, are you perhaps bored?"
"Yes," she said bluntly. "There's no point in cleaning the manor again, it's already clean, apart from the mud you've just dragged in. What do you desire, master?"
"People. Alive for now."
"How many?"
Harrison thought of the ground he had torn up and prepared, and smiled.
"Thirty should be enough at this state. I'll tell you if I need more."
"Does age matter?"
"No children or small people," he said. "Adult, normal-sized males and females. Take Christian with you."
"What are you making?"
"I'm recreating the gardens," Harrison said.
"I don't like your gardens."
"Elise, that's the point. No one likes my gardens. Don't worry, I won't make you go out and water it later."
She shuddered as she fully well knew what kind of nourishment her master's garden demanded, and fled to find Christian.
-o-
October turned into November when something happened. James and Sirius were walking around the school, patrolling as they called it, and spotted Snape.
"Should we scare him?" Sirius said.
"More importantly than that, shouldn't he be in class? Or at least in his classroom?"
They noticed now that the man was speaking into a two-way mirror. They weren't exactly cheap, and they had never seen him use one before. Both of them crept closer as Snape's attention was on whoever was on the other side of the mirror.
"Friend?" Sirius whispered.
"Not bloody likely."
"Maybe Malfoy then. He could afford a mirror or two."
Their hushed conversation was stopped dead when they heard Severus utter the word:
"Master."
Snape had never called Voldemort that. In fact, the potions master had never, ever called anyone 'master'. They stared some more, but took out their wands when they realized he was sharing the Order's information with some unknown person.
"Snape!"
Snape turned around, looking at them. He closed the mirror without a word and put it away. He tilted his head at them.
"Who was that?" James demanded to know.
"An acquaintance of mine."
"Yeah, is that so? You call all of them 'master', do you?" Sirius sneered.
For a moment, he didn't move. They stared at each other, three childhood enemies. None of them had forgotten those times, the petty revenges. The potions master's eyes narrowed, and then he ran.
"Shit!" Sirius shot off a spell that Snape deftly avoided. "James!"
A cutting curse was hurled from James' wand. It tore through Snape's back but he didn't stop. He was running too fast, and they knew he was going for the Entrance doors. Once there he still would have some ground to cover to escape the wards, but it would be harder to stop him.
"Shit, shit, shit! We have to take him out!" James screamed. Deep inside, he was glad. He had worried so much about Snape these last few months, ever since the attack on Hogsmeade. Ever since he attacked the man. With Snape dead, he would feel much better.
They both shot off numerous spells at the potions master but he dodged them with the skill of a seasoned dueller. He even managed to return fire, throwing spells over his shoulder. A cutting curse tore open Sirius' left arm, another caught James in the side. Neither of them stopped running. They wouldn't let Snape get away.
They had run several corridors before a final cutting curse came from Sirius' wand and hit Snape in the neck. Blood spurted out and the man crumbled to the floor, rolling over a few times before coming to a stop.
Sirius and James kept their wands trained on him, breathing heavily, and then James used a foot to turn him over.
Snape's artery in the neck had been severed. Blood moved sluggishly out of the cut. His vacant eyes stared up at the roof but as James bent down to find the two-way mirror they moved. Snape stared straight at him. Sirius stomped on his chest.
"Don't you dare try anything, you traitor!" he hissed.
Snape's lips moved but all that came out was a gurgle and blood. Then the eyes lost its sheen and they heard him draw his last breath. James found the mirror but to his dismay it was cracked. It was useless now.
"Damn it!"
"What on earth is going on here, what are you two… oh my god!"
McGonagall came running up to them, wand out but her eyes were on Snape's corpse.
"He was betraying us," Sirius explained, holding onto his bleeding arm. "He was sharing our info with someone, and bolted when we tried to make him tell us who! We had to take him down!"
"Severus did what? But… why?"
"Too late to ask him now, isn't it?" James said. "He spoke through this."
He handed over the mirror.
"But since it's broken, I doubt it will be of any use," he said.
"Oh god…" McGonagall looked down at Snape. "Oh, Severus… what were you thinking?"
It surprised both Sirius and James how much she had cared for Snape, even when they were students. She always liked that slimy git, no matter what he did. Even now she kneeled down in his blood and strokes away his hair.
"I'll take him to the Infirmary," she said. "Go and get Albus."
"The… blood?"
"The house-elves will take care of it," she said as she levitated the body. She looked at them. "Don't tell anyone else until you've told Albus, alright?"
They nodded and left, Sirius still holding his wounded arm and James' hand going to his side. McGonagall was left alone with Snape, and she turned to look at him again. Gently she closed his eyes.
"You're not a bad child," she whispered. "Not truly… so what on earth were you doing, Severus?"
Talking to bodies wouldn't give her any satisfying answers, so she went on her way, leaving the cleanup to the house-elves. She covered Snape's body and cursed when she came into the Infirmary.
Pansy Parkinson was on one of the beds, and Draco stood next to Madam Pomfrey as she gave the girl a potion.
"Minerva!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, staring at the body.
"Poppy… a word? And a private room perhaps?"
McGonagall didn't notice the two children staring at the arm that had slipped free of the sheet. Most students wouldn't notice it, but Pansy and Draco were Slytherins. They knew the Head of House very well, plus Severus was Draco's godfather.
The blond teen recognized that potion-stained hand and felt his insides freeze up. As the two women walked towards on the private rooms Draco took out his wand and moved it to the side. The sheet flipped over at the top without McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey noticing that either. Pansy held in a gasp as they saw the pale, blood-splattered face of their professor and Head of House.
-o-
Voldemort was disturbed by Lucius' entrance. The blond looked… well, wrong. He was normally pale, yes, but never this white. It looked like all his blood was gone, and he had this strange, haunted look in his eyes.
Harrison, who was visiting, tilted his head as Lucius came closer. The Nightmare Lord was toying with something between his fingers ever since he came a few minutes ago, but Voldemort had yet to catch a look of what it was.
"My lord," Lucius said, glancing at them both. Other Death Eaters loitering around had entered the throne room as well, trailing behind Lucius and casting curious glances at him. It wasn't often one saw Lucius Malfoy anything less than composed.
"Yes?"
"My son, he… he contacted me," he said. "From Hogwarts. He had some disturbing… news."
More than disturbing. The man looked positively stricken.
"What is it?" Voldemort asked.
"It seems like… Severus… he's dead."
Silence reigned in the room for a few moments. Voldemort took a moment to process that. The potions master's face flashed before his eyes. Severus had never really shown people what he felt or thought, but the Dark Lord had caught the man unaware a few times when he smiled, or laughed. With a start did he realize he had actually grown to like Severus Snape, grumpy behaviour and all. Voldemort cleared his throat and said:
"How?"
"Draco didn't know who did it, only that Minerva McGonagall came in with his body underneath a sheet. It appears he had been struck in the neck, severing his artery."
"Nothing else?"
"Yes, James Potter arrived along with Sirius Black and Dumbledore shortly after that. The two talked about Severus being a traitor. He had apparently leaked information about the Light's Order to someone he referred as 'master'. That's the last Draco heard."
"Master?" Voldemort said. "Well, he certainly wasn't talking to me."
"Not?"
"No, I haven't spoken with him for a while now. And he wouldn't call me master."
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. That would be me."
They turned around and Harrison waved a little. Voldemort saw now that he held a two-way mirror in his other hand.
"You what?" Bellatrix sneered.
"Master. That would be me. He was talking to me, on this, when he suddenly stopped. Well, now I know why."
"What?"
"Are you all unable to comprehend simple words? Master is me, I'm Severus' master. Again, terribly sorry Voldemort, I was going to tell you about it all but honestly I only noticed your mark when I was almost done with him."
"You…?" Voldemort began but then trailed off.
"I was hoping for a more relaxed conversation about it all, but it's my own fault for letting it drag on for this long," Harrison confessed. "At first, that night was a bit a chaos even for me, plus I had to get him going to not arouse suspicions with the Light… and he was rather badly damaged to be honest."
They all stared at him.
"He's yours?" Voldemort asked, still not quite believing it.
"Yes, all mine," Harrison said. "I guess he was discovered by someone who didn't like him selling out the Light."
"You mean you stole our lord's servant from him?!" Bellatrix screeched.
"Shut up, if I wanted to hear a banshee I would have asked Elise or Christian to capture one for me," Harrison told her. "As compensation, I'll tell you what Severus told me. All of it. Plus a little extra I found out on my own."
"But he's…" Lucius looked at him.
"Oh, you mean dead?" Harrison laughed. "No, no, Lucius Malfoy. He's not dead. He's far from being dead."
-o-
Cornelius Fudge himself had come to Hogwarts. Albus tried to keep the chaos under control. They had gathered outside the Infirmary, not inside as Madam Pomfrey was adamant about not releasing Pansy. The girl was to rest in the Infirmary and that was final.
They wouldn't have fit comfortably in Albus' office either, so he had sealed off the corridor and hoped that would be enough. Young Draco was with Pansy but the doors had been sealed and sounds muffled. The two teens could hear them but not the actual words. Albus didn't trust them to not find a way to contact their parents, especially after Minerva confessed they probably had seen it was Severus' corpse.
Said corpse was lying in one of the rooms, locked away from the two teens, and James and Sirius had told their story several times already. Lily was still distraught and in disbelief that Severus would ever betray them.
As it was, they had no idea what was happening inside the Infirmary.
Pansy felt it was unnecessary that she stayed for the night but people rarely disobeyed Madam Pomfrey's orders. She could be a very intimidating person despite her usual calm appearance. Draco had opted to stay with her as he was free for the rest of the day.
They were also in shock after having seen their professor. Draco had dutifully reported it to his father through a two-way mirror he had concealed in his robes, but hoped it wasn't true. The only professor who truly supported them in this school was professor Snape. With him dead, or even just gone from school, it would be harder on Slytherins.
Draco realized soon enough he was hoping his godfather was still alive, despite the fact he had seen Severus' body. They couldn't have faked it, could they? In that case, why? Did they want to worry the dark, and made sure Draco could see it so he'd tell his father?
He glanced over at one of the beds. A few bottles and Severus' wand lay on it. He wanted to take the wand, stash it away safely but he didn't dare. The Light might have put some sort of spell on it to prevent someone from taking it from them.
Draco put his head down at the end of Pansy's bed, breathing deeply. He had to stay calm. There was no point in panicking. He wouldn't be of any use to anyone if he started weeping just remembering the strange sight of seeing his godfather so still, covered in blood…
"Professor Snape…"
"Pansy, not now, please."
"But… professor Snape is…"
"Pansy, not now."
He looked up at her but Pansy wasn't looking at him. Her eyes were wide and a little wet, full of fear. She raised an arm and pointed over his shoulder, towards the bed where Severus' wand rested.
"There, professor Snape. Your wand's over there."
Draco whirled around. Severus' head was bent strangely as he regarded them coldly. Then his neck snapped and cracked as he turned his head towards his wand. His body moved stiffly and slowly and it took Draco only a moment to realize what he moved like.
An Inferius. Lucius had shown Draco one, a long time ago. Back then the corpse's movements had seemed even a little funny but there was nothing funny about the way Severus moved. When the corpse had moved in the past, Draco hadn't thought much about it. Seeing his godfather walk like an animated corpse…
It was unsettling to say the least.
"Professor Snape?" Pansy whispered.
"I'm not sure… he can understand us…"
"I told him where his wand was, and he saw it!"
"Well, he might listen to things like that… not just… I don't know."
His neck twisted around again and they saw the full damage done on it. The wound was gaping open at them, and Pansy couldn't hold it in any longer; she screamed. She screamed and screamed, and Draco landed on the floor after stumbling backwards when Severus made a move towards them.
The Infirmary doors burst open, and the Light spilled inside. Severus' head rocked dangerously on his neck before turning to them.
"Severus!" Lily shouted.
"No, Lily!" Cornelius interjected. "Look at his eyes! Look at your friend's eyes, and remember my warning. The Nightmare Lord's servants, his slaves… their eyes are silver!"
Indeed; instead of Severus' usual black pools of eyes, they were shimmering with silver as he straightened up. Bones cracked and moved inside the body.
"He's dead," Cornelius said, "and made into a slave under that lord's will. But when? For how long has he been a slave for that monster?"
"The lord took me under his wings as I lay dying on the streets," Severus said. His voice was rough, full with gravel, most likely due to the damage on his neck. "Blood flowed on Hogsmeade ground, and he could have done so much more… but he saved me instead. How does that make him a monster?"
"These are not your words, Severus!" the Minister yelled. "I'm not even sure you are still in there, Severus, but you must understand that we have to kill you."
The change in Severus' demeanour was swift but frightening. The silver eyes vanished and turned haunting green, and the bloodless lips twisted into a wide grin.
"Aah, you're up and running I see, Cornelius."
It wasn't even Severus' voice. Hands that had gripped the wand so fiercely now relaxed and twirled it around. His back straightened and one hand pushed bloody hair out of his face. But it was not Severus they faced anymore.
"The Nightmare Lord," Cornelius whispered. "So you can possess your slaves too?"
"Oh, that's naughty language, Cornelius. I don't have slaves. I prefer personally to call them servants. Disobedient servants when it suits them, but servants nonetheless."
The hands explored Severus' throat and a groan came out.
"Ah, I have to fix him again? I didn't know keeping a potions master would be so difficult. I might just have to teach him to not let himself get hurt."
He looked up only to see several wands pointed at him. He smirked with Severus' mouth.
"Ooh, scary. But I don't have time for this. And you won't be getting Severus back. He's mine now."
A diagonal slash brought the wand down against the wall of the Infirmary, leading outside, and Pansy screamed once more when Hogwarts' magic failed. The wall cracked and another slash of the wand made a hole.
"Incendio!" James screamed. Flames shot out towards Severus, and the Nightmare Lord who possessed him for now.
It was the lord's laughter that they heard, and then the flames were gone. They had no idea how he had made them go away.
"Farewell for now, little Cornelius," he said. "This time… prepare well. I'm out there. Your worst nightmare."
Darkness surged, pulled Severus's body out and he disappeared.
-o-
Harrison opened his eyes and steadied himself against the wall. The others were talking, glancing his way, and some had even come closer than before when he went to take over Severus' body.
He felt the blood running out of his nose, and wiped it away. It had been a long time since he possessed someone to that degree, even pouring his own magic into a foreign body… it was exhausting.
But now Severus was on his way to him. Harrison frowned as he remembered feeling the injuries. He had made sure Severus couldn't die from them, but it would be a pain to heal them completely.
Looking around he spotted Bellatrix. Or rather, it was difficult to not notice her glares. She had always been a peculiar person to deal with, both now and back when he was Harry Potter. Now as a Nightmare Lord, it would probably be a surprise to many Light people the amount of hostility she showed him but Harrison wasn't that surprised. Had he been just another crazy person, they would have gotten along very well he suspected.
But he was a lord and more importantly, was above Voldemort in terms of strength. She might not know that, but Voldemort had more or less told her so by calling Harrison 'lord' in the Death Eaters' presence. Now, others would take it in a stride but seeing as Bellatrix worshipped the ground Voldemort walked on, she was probably very angry.
Harrison had come out of nowhere and demanded respect from her lord, the one person she saw as the strongest one alive. Harrison knew this because her mind was ridiculously easy to read. She was insane and powerful, but for him, she was nothing more but a nuisance. As she had never liked Severus the first time around, Harrison doubted she liked him any better here.
Well, it wasn't like she could hurt him. Harrison disliked weak servants. Lucian might look weak, might even act it but when it came around to actual fighting, he was a tough opponent to defeat. Harrison made sure that all his servants could handle themselves, but he hadn't actually ordered Severus to go all out. He hadn't thought it was necessary in a school.
"Teaches me to not underestimate idiots with wands," he said, almost to himself, chuckling.
"When exactly did you intend to tell me about Severus?" Voldemort suddenly asked.
"When indeed… now when I think about it, I probably should already have mentioned it… but since you weren't contacting him I kept putting it aside. Forgive me?"
"I'm not angry…"
"You should be! My lord!"
Oh, here comes the banshee again. She had a talent in screaming at least, that Bellatrix. Her magic was rather impressive too. It had blown her hair off her shoulders, making it float in the air. Harrison hid his smile behind his hand. He doubted she would appreciate being the source of his amusement.
"Bellatrix, calm down."
"No! I can't! I will not, my lord! This man, he continues to… he insults you, my lord, the only lord, and belittles you! He stole your servant! By rights, we should kill Severus once he arrives!"
"Oh, I doubt you can do more damage than the Light has done," Harrison said, opening his arms. "Come here, Severus."
They all whirled around.
Severus walked forward, calm and composed but they all saw the gaping wound in his neck. They saw the ripped clothing, the blood staining the ashen skin. By all rights, he shouldn't be able to walk.
"How…?" Voldemort said.
"I don't like servants dying on me before I want them to," Harrison said. "That would defeat the whole purpose of saving them in the first place."
Severus came to a stop in front of him. Harrison saw Bellatrix move, and felt the magic rear up inside her.
"If you try to fire off a spell right now, missy, I'll rip off your arms," he told her with a smile. It wasn't a pleasant one. "Starting a conflict within your own group is really immature."
"He's not part of my group!" Bellatrix shouted.
"He's dark. You're dark. Hence, your group," Harrison said. "Now, if I may excuse myself and Severus for a bit… I need to heal him. Would you like to come with us, Voldemort?"
"You said you'd share information?"
"Of course. Whatever I may know, you may know. It's only fair since I took Severus from you."
"That's fine with me. The rest of you, don't do anything stupid. Lucius, Draco perhaps already knows that Severus escaped but do try to tell him the man's fine."
"Of course, my lord," Lucius said. "Severus?"
Perhaps they all believed he was a mindless follower now. Harrison grinned. Severus turned around.
"I'm fine, Lucius," he said, voice rough. "In fact… I might even feel better than I have done in a long time. Despite these injuries, power flows through me. Power the Nightmare Lord gave me."
"A power I should have told you to use."
"Generally you don't have to protect yourself in a school," Severus said. "You didn't know the hostility they had against me."
"Well, once upon a time I was famous for being paranoid. Relaxing appears to not be the right thing to do."
He grabbed onto Severus, and with a nod to Voldemort, Apparated. Once they arrived at his manor he let go of the potions master but moved one hand over the wound on his neck. Voldemort appeared moments later.
"Wow, he looks bad."
Lucian leaned against the wall, arms crossed and looking slightly amused.
"I thought you sent him to a school?" he continued.
"I did," Harrison said and focused his magic before placing his hand over Severus' neck. "It looks like school has become increasingly dangerous over the years. There we go."
He removed his hand and although the blood remained, the wound itself was gone. Severus touched the now unbroken skin and looked at him.
"How did you do that?"
"You weren't paying attention the first time I healed you?"
"Terribly sorry, master, but I was rather busy trying not to die."
Sarcasm intact, that was good. Harrison had been the subject of that sarcasm in his youth, but it was refreshing all the same. Still, he pinched Severus' cheek and said:
"I was being very thorough you know. There was no way you were dying."
"Well, it felt that way."
"Course it did."
"How could I feel that way if I wasn't dying?"
"Because that's nature, and fate. They both like to screw with people. Now, let's see to the other wounds."
"James Potter killed me again. Well, technically Sirius Black did the final one in my neck."
"Oh, did he attack you at the school as well?" Harrison asked as they went down to the dungeons, Voldemort silently following them. "I saw him attack you in Hogsmeade but to think he'd attack you even inside the school… and with a friend. Two against one isn't fair."
"It's never fair. They heard me talking to you."
"Naturally. Wait, did you say a Black? He was there when Cornelius visited my cell. I was a bit surprised to see a natural Dark person being with the Light."
"He has chosen the Light," Severus said, "for some strange reason. Perhaps because he's a bit of an idiot."
"You don't like him, do you?"
"I don't like many people, master."
Harrison had wondered what he would feel when Severus did call him master. Happy? Sad? Elated, or should he feel like he won? But won what? This Severus wasn't the Severus he had known. Harrison as a Nightmare Lord thrived on crushing people underneath his feet, just to see their misery but still… he didn't feel anything in particular when he heard Severus call him that.
All it said was that Severus was on his side.
"Maybe I'm really getting old…"
"What was that, master?"
"Harrison?"
He turned to look at both Severus and Voldemort, and smiled a bit.
"Just me rambling again. How deep are the wounds, Severus?"
"Three in the back have reached my spine and damaged it. I believe several of my organs are damaged too."
"That's to expect with the number of injuries. They didn't hold back, did they? Something wrong, Voldemort?"
"I can see… into Severus' body, even as he moves," Voldemort said. "It's strange."
Harrison smiled.
"Of course it's strange. He shouldn't be able to walk."
"But thanks to you he can?"
"More or less. Here we are."
The ceiling was low, but the light was bright without being too bright. There were bookshelves lining the walls, cramped full with books and jars. Several tables were put out too, big enough for bodies, and despite Severus' protests that he could stand Harrison with force made him lie down.
"You've damaged tendons in your leg if you haven't noticed," Harrison noted. "I need those relaxed to heal them."
"I haven't noticed because I don't feel the pain right now."
"Oh, I did that as a precaution. Would you like me to remove that?"
"Yes. I'd prefer to feel it."
"Fine, I'll do it later."
Voldemort came to a stop beside Harrison and said:
"How do you heal him? I'm guessing your way is faster than the normal way."
"I've had training. It only works on my servants though; healing someone I haven't handled, or taken apart personally, it's a lot harder." Harrison rolled up his sleeves and peeled off Severus' outer robe.
"I can undress myself."
"My, you are testy today."
"I was attacked," Severus said, arms twitching. "I am angry about that."
"Yes, I would imagine so. You'll have a shot at them I suppose, unless they do something stupid and get themselves killed ahead of time."
"So you can leave their whole personalities intact?" Voldemort wondered. "This Severus is exactly the Severus I know."
"This Severus, if you pardon me my lord, is hearing you. He can still hear things."
"Don't be rude, Severus dear. And yes, I can. Some I didn't, but I didn't care about them. I found it slightly entertaining to send them home completely blank. The families looked so distressed; it was a treat just watching them."
"Oh god, you're a sadist," Severus said. "That's just great."
"Yeah, and you know what? I'm very good at sewing mouths shut and make it excruciatingly painful at the same time."
Both Severus and Voldemort glanced over at him. Harrison shrugged before starting to poke around a wound on Severus' abdomen, saying:
"What? There was this fine young lady who had a very witty mouth. Too witty for my tastes. I did remove the stitches later so she could talk again, but she never used wit against me again."
He was allowed to continue working in peace and soon all of the wounds were closed.
"The organs will take some more time to recover," he said as Severus sat up again, "so no heavy activities for the next few days."
"What am I supposed to do now?" Severus asked.
"I'll have a chat with Voldemort about what you've told me about the Order, and you'll meet the others. Properly this time, last time you merely caught glimpses of them right? Elise is the senior, so do try not to aggravate her. She has a few tricks up her sleeve she wouldn't mind using against rude people."
"I'm not rude."
"She misunderstands sometimes, so do watch your tongue with her until she's used to you."
Elise chose to reveal herself and with a nod to both Harrison and Voldemort she motioned Severus to follow her. The potions master looked at Harrison.
"Why did you save me?"
"Because it might be fun," Harrison said, shrugging. "You didn't want to be saved?"
"That's not it… I just wondered what drives a person like you."
"Oh, don't bother. Voldemort has much more noble causes than I have."
Severus looked at him, then seemingly gave up and followed Elise. Harrison turned to Voldemort and gestured to the stairs leading up from the dungeons.
"Shall we?"
Tbc…
I hope you enjoyed.
Chapter ten: What is this garden of Harrison's? He also decides to make one more Muggle disappear, at least for a while, but to find that Muggle he needs to kidnap someone from the Order who can give him the information he needs.
Until later,
See ya,
Tiro