Another two chapters up for you today! Aren't you lucky! I think you are anyway /grin/.
Hope you're still enjoying this, considering the people belong to Rowling, the betaing to Xikum, and nothing but the plot to me! :whispers: Review if you do.
Mythic Alliance
by Jendra
Severus waited only five minutes before checking the Tell-Tale he had placed upon Harry. He expected to find him heading towards the Gryffindor dorms or the Astronomy tower. If he were headed for the dorms, he would leave him alone and let his friends help. But, if he were headed for the Astronomy Tower, he would follow. Instead, Harry seemed to still be in the dungeons. Severus quickly left the classroom and followed the spell towards one of the unused storerooms. Once he entered, he looked around, seeing no sign of the boy for whom he was searching.
He knew Harry was aware of the spell he had placed upon him, and wondered if the boy had managed to transfer it to an animal or insect, when his eye happened upon a closed cabinet. Surely not? "Harry?" he said softly. There was a small noise from within the closed cupboard. "I will stay here until you come out," he warned. He considered opening the door and forcing him out, but felt that would do more harm than good. Instead, he conjured up a pair of chairs and settled himself down to wait in one of them.
While he waited, he considered why Harry would have come here. From what he knew of Harry, it would have made more sense if he had headed for the Astronomy Tower, or even the Quidditch pitch. He seemed to prefer heights when he was unhappy or worried. Not to a place that would remind him of his old 'room'.
He had expected to be waiting for a long time, but only ten minutes after he got there, the door slowly opened. Snape waited, calm on the outside as Harry crept out. He had been bracing himself for the sight of fear on the boy's face, but was completely surprised by the shame that was there instead.
"I'm sorry," Harry blurted out as he walked slowly towards his professor.
"For what reason?" Severus asked, surprised. "My words were... unfortunate."
Harry shrugged, still looking down. "My reaction was a bit more unfortunate, don't you think?"
"You had your reasons," Snape said gently.
"No, I didn't," Harry disagreed. "They were just words, you hadn't made a move against me."
"Sit down," Severus ordered.
Harry did as he was told, but his eyes never left the floor.
"We were in the middle of an argument. There was yelling involved, and I said something I shouldn't have. In the heat of the moment, you took it to be truth. There's nothing wrong with that. Especially considering you don't yet trust me."
"What makes you think that?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"If you trusted me, you wouldn't still believe you could do anything that would make me physically hurt you."
There wasn't much Harry could say about that. He made a slight shrug.
"Why here?" Severus asked the question that had been bugging him since he found the boy. "I thought you would dislike small, dark places."
Harry shook his head. "Not at all. My cupboard was the only sanctuary I had. In there, usually, no one bothered me. Sure, Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia would pull me out when they wanted me to do something, or lock me back in when they didn't have any work for me to do, but they never hurt me while I was in there. They couldn't fit."
"I see," Severus replied, fitting another piece into the puzzle that was Harry Potter.
"I'm sorry for arguing with you," Harry said, his voice sounding as if the words were being pulled from him. "But really, I don't see what the big deal is, nor what business it is of yours. You're not acting like yourself. You wouldn't care if it were anyone else."
"That is where you are wrong. I would indeed care if it were one of my Slytherins. I suppose that since we have been spending so much time together, I have begun treating you like I would one of them."
"Huh," Harry looked surprised at that thought. He obviously hadn't thought of it that way.
"As for what the big deal is," Snape continued, "the way you were speaking, it was not just as if classes were not important, which they most certainly are, but also as if you don't believe you will be alive to worry about your future. And that attitude I will not put up with. Neither of them, actually."
Harry continued to look down, but started to scrub his hands across the robe covering his knees. "Do you really think I will?"
"Will what?"
"Survive."
"I have little doubt," Severus said immediately. "Because you're not going to fight him again until you're ready, and you will not be doing it alone."
Harry barked a laugh. "Not being ready has never stopped me before. What makes you think it will now? It's never stopped him before, either. As for going it alone, I'm not going to get any more people killed because they were with me. It's just not going to happen."
"Who said you had a choice? It's not just your fight."
"Tell that to the people who keep expecting me to kill Voldemort, just because I banished him when I was too young to know what I was doing," Harry said harshly.
"Since when have you cared what people thought?" Severus prodded, remaining focused on the boy's reactions, deciphering the myriad mix of underlying emotions.
"Not even you can completely ignore them," Harry said, with the first sign of his normal spark since he'd been found.
"But I certainly try," Snape smirked.
Harry smiled slightly. "I can't do that. Oh, I don't care what the world says about me, not really. What the people believe has more to do with what the paper says than anything real about me. But my friends, my teachers... no matter how much I sometimes might wish to ignore them, I can't."
"If you can ignore *me*, I see no reason why you are incapable of ignoring them."
"Um, because I care what they think?" Harry said. His downcast face didn't quite hide the smile tugging at the sides of his mouth.
"I suggest you rearrange your priorities," Snape said in a mock-threat. "Now, I believe you have some homework to complete?"
Harry glared, but it was half-hearted, and he reluctantly stood up. Snape stood as well and banished the chairs. As Harry went past him, he went to lay his hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry's flinch and quick move away from him destroyed any idea he might have had that he hadn't done as much damage to their relationship as he had originally thought.
Harry led the way back to the classroom where he'd left his bag and pulled out the work he'd already done. He handed it over to his Potions professor to read over.
He flinched as Snape reached for his quill and red ink. Sure enough, the man ended up marking all over the paper. He handed it back with a scowl. "Mr. Crabbe could do a better job than that," he told him.
"That's a little harsh, don't you think?" Harry frowned, taking it back to look over. It was the first time he'd read it through since he'd written it quickly, immediately after class. Now, looking at it, he winced as he read it over. It sounded like something a seven year old would write, which did put it at about Crabbe's level.
When Draco came in half an hour later, after being unable to find the Gryffindor boy, he found Harry rewriting the essay for the third time. He'd been allowed to pull several books from Severus' personal library and was working diligently. Draco didn't say anything about what had happened earlier, rather he chose to simply return to what he had been doing before the argument broke out. It wasn't until Snape left the room that he addressed the situation.
"Are you okay?" Draco asked quietly.
Harry nodded, looking away, embarrassed. "I'm sorry I lost it like that."
Draco shrugged nonchalantly. "I won't hold it over you this time," he answered. "So, did you come back on your own, or did he go find you?"
"He came after me," Harry admitted.
"Did he apologize?" Draco asked with interest.
Harry was surprised into a snicker. "What do you think?"
"Not in those words," Draco smirked.
"I figured that his coming after me was as much an apology as I was going to get."
"Probably true," Draco replied.
"Where did you head off to?"
Draco shrugged. "I figured he wouldn't allow himself to lose face by running after you while I was here, so I left. I met Blaise, and we talked for a while."
"Blaise? Is that the dark-haired boy that seems to be by himself most of the time?"
"His family isn't as old or pureblood as most of ours, not to mention they aren't even considered dark, so he's not really part of any group. He doesn't mind. It's not like there's really anyone besides myself with whom he could enjoy an intelligent conversation."
"But you get on with him?"
"I, as you have seen, can get along with anyone. I get along with you, after all. I would think that would show you how open-minded I can be." The smirk fell off his face and he looked seriously at the boy he wouldn't admit to anyone was his friend. "You do realize he didn't mean it, don't you?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, I know. He was just upset and said the first thing that came to mind. Not a state I usually think of Snape as being in, that's for sure."
"You *are* going to hold it over his head as long as possible, are you not?"
Harry looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"You're practically a Slytherin by now," Draco informed him. "You're required to take advantage of something like that."
Harry actually laughed. "Only if he makes me write this stupid essay over again."
Having heard what he needed, Severus moved away from the office doorway and headed off to complete his errand. Inside the room, Harry and Draco grinned at one another. Severus was the one that had taught them to notice when someone was around. Did he think they'd suddenly forget?
Two days later, Hermione was looking much happier with Harry since he'd started turning in his homework again. The quidditch team was much happier with him since Snape had given him back his broom and he hadn't missed practice. It had been ridiculously easy to get the broom back; all it had taken was judicious use of puppy dog eyes. Harry hadn't been aware that Professor Snape was vulnerable to that look, but Draco had given him the heads up about it.
He was back in the Restricted Section, under strict orders that any extracurricular research not interfere with his schoolwork, which must be brought back up and not fall again. He was reading through another big, dusty book describing things he didn't quite understand when his gaze suddenly became intent. He reread over the section once more, but still wasn't quite sure he understood. He looked around and noticed Draco looking through his own book, several tables away. He grabbed a piece of parchment and wadded it up, lobbing it over to the other boy. Using magic was strictly prohibited within the environs of the library.
Draco looked up and glared around as he felt the paper strike him. His eyes caught sight of Harry as he caught Draco's notice, then got up and walked behind several shelves. Draco took a quick but thorough look around before getting up to follow after him.
"What do you have?" he asked quietly.
"That depends," Harry whispered back. "What's a nine-by-nine linked circle?"
Draco's eyes widened slightly. "I don't think there's ever been a nine-by-nine linked circle."
"But what is it?"
"Well, do you know what a linked circle is?"
Harry shook his head.
"Professor Snape could probably explain it better," Draco warned him. "A linked circle is when a group of wizards pool their powers into one person who does whatever spell it is that needs all that power. A circle can have any number of people, but three, four or nine are the most usual. They simply work better. Yes, there's a reason for that, but I'm not going to get into that right now. Since the power has to go through the leader of the circle, how much he can hold dictates how big the circle can be made. Nine is generally considered the top limit, but that is only theoretical. A nine-by-nine circle is, at least so far as I've heard, only a myth. It hasn't been done. A nine-by-nine circle would have eighty-one wizards, nine circles of nine. The people holding each of those circles' power, themselves in turn link into a circle of their own, and channel it to the leader. However, I don't believe any one person could hold that much power."
"Unless it was a mage," Harry said thoughtfully.
Draco thought that over. "Perhaps you're right," he agreed slowly. "But where would we get seventy-eight other people?"
"Would we need them? We've got three mages. How many wizards do you think that's worth?"
"Why don't you show me the spell?"
Harry handed over the book and pointed out the relevant portions.
As Draco read it over, he quickly became as excited about it as Harry was. "Maybe three mages are enough. If they are, this would be near perfect."
"What's wrong with it?"
"Have you seen what the vessel would be made of? It's not going to be easy to get that many diamonds, especially since they have to be without any excess magic."
Harry grabbed the book back and read that part. He had only skimmed it earlier. Now he saw what Draco meant. That vessel itself was going to be difficult to make, and the potion they would need to brew looked near impossible. Well beyond his and Draco's abilities, at any rate. They could assist, but could one Potions Master handle the complexities, essentially without additional expert support? He made that comment and Draco agreed. "I've never seen the like. Look at this; it's going to take a month of nonstop potion making. I'm not sure that even the three of us can do this."
"It's the best we've ever come up with," Harry reminded him. "Besides, I really think this is the one we're supposed to use."
"Why?"
"Look at what is one of the only things that will destroy the vessel once it's made and full," Harry told him.
Draco read it over and smirked. "The flame of a fire drake." He looked up at Harry. "Copy it. We'll take it to Severus."
Harry had taken the book back but stopped and stared at Draco when he said that. "Severus?" he asked, his eyebrow raised.
"What?" Draco whined. "I've only known him since I was born. Besides, Slytherin tends not to use last names when we talk amongst one another, and you're *almost* a Slytherin."
"I don't think I'll follow your lead on that one, thank you. I don't want to see what he'd do if I were that familiar."
Draco snorted. "He likes you," the blonde told him. "If he didn't, you wouldn't be spending so much time in his wonderful company, now would you?"
"Still," Harry said distractedly as he was carefully copying down every word from the book. While other books typically allowed for copy and duplication spells, those held in the Restricted Section did not. They were rare, and covered more powerful, advanced magic, so they were commonly spelled with any number of anti-copying protections and curses. The only way to copy those books was the old fashioned way. He finally finished and handed the copy over to Draco to check. This was too important for him to risk having forgotten an instruction or missed an ingredient.
Once Draco had checked it over, they headed down to the Potions classroom. It wasn't their usual time, but this was too important to wait, and Draco was sure his professor didn't have classes at the moment.
They didn't think of how they probably looked, heading together to the dungeons with determined looks upon their faces, until they ran into several other students in the hallway, who gaped at the sight of the pair. Draco noticed their alarm first. He immediately turned to Harry. "Why are you following me? Planning on hexing me when my back is turned?"
Harry quickly caught on. "I'm not a Slytherin back-stabber. And I'm not following you, you just happen to be going in the same direction as I."
"Well, find another way to go, before I decide it may be worthwhile to see what I can do to you before any teachers can interfere," Draco sneered. He turned on his heel and stalked off, leaving Harry glaring at his back. The students around slowly continued on their way, reassured that everything was right in the world.
Once alone, Harry closed his eyes and took a breath. He hated having to act like that.
"Why don't you just admit that you're friends?" a quiet voice asked. Harry's eyes flew open to see Neville standing in front of him. A quick look around showed that they were alone.
"What are you talking about?"
"You and Malfoy," Neville answered. "Why don't you admit you're friends?"
"What makes you think we are?"
"You're with each other every night, and I don't think you're really having detention with Professor Snape."
Harry gave half a smile. "You'd be surprised."
"I don't think I would. Why don't you just let people know you're friends with him? After all, I haven't had very many problems being friends with Thyme."
"There's a difference between a Gryffindor being friends with someone that half the people who see you probably don't even recognize as a Slytherin, and the Gryffindor Golden Boy being friends with Slytherin's Silver Prince. Yeah, people would care. They care about the stupidest things when it comes to me."
Neville couldn't really argue with that. They did seem to hold Harry up to a different standard than themselves, but he still didn't think it would matter that much.
"It would matter," Harry told him, seemingly reading his mind. "If I started preferring to spend my time with Slytherins, the others'd all turn on me, say I was going Dark. They've done it before."
"I wouldn't," Neville said staunchly.
"I know, but then they'd make your life miserable as well. Especially because of Scarborough. I'm not worth you getting into that kind of trouble." He turned around and started to walk away.
"Yes, you are, Harry," Neville called after him. "Believe it or not, I'm not going to turn on you. And not just because you're the one who convinced Professor Snape to pair up Thyme and I."
Harry turned to look at him in surprise. "How did you..." he started.
"I didn't," Neville smiled. "Thyme thought it was you, but we didn't know for sure. We do now."
Harry laughed, looking much lighter, and shook his head. "I'll see you later, Neville. I can see Thyme is having an influence on you. Maybe we can have a game of Exploding Snap later tonight?"
"I'll look forward to it. And one of these days, you're going to have to explain what's so blasted important in the library."
"One of these days," Harry agreed, promising nothing. With a wave back over his shoulder, he headed towards the dungeons.
When he reached the Potions classroom, he found Professor Snape deeply immersed in the parchment.
"Well? Do you think it will work?" Harry asked excitedly.
Severus leaned back in his chair. "It is the closest we have seen to something that will completely destroy the Dark Lord," he admitted. "However, it's going to require many ingredients I don't even have in my private stock, a *lot* of diamonds, and more time than I honestly believe we have. Even supposing that the three of us have enough power to do it, and I'm not positive that we do, I do not know if we could make the potion, not in the middle of the school year."
Harry drooped. He didn't want to wait; he'd lived with it long enough. "So I'm going to have to fight him *again*, without it," he muttered.
Severus glared at him. "You're not fighting him alone, or at all, as far as I'm concerned."
"Are you saying he's not planning something for this year?" Harry asked.
"Nothing you need to worry about," Snape bit out.
Harry snorted. "Yeah. Right."
Draco broke in. "I know someone that could help."
"The person you were talking about last week?"
Draco nodded. "This weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend. Can you both get to the Three Broomsticks for lunch? Say, half twelve?"
"I will be escorting the students this weekend," Snape said, "so I shall be able to go if it does not take more than one hour."
"By now, no one is going to be surprised if I go off by myself," Harry said. "I can meet you there. Are you going to tell us who it is, and why we can't meet down here?"
"You'll see," Draco said, with a secretive little smile that caused shivers of dread to run up and down Harry's spine.