Chapter 13
Harry felt his feet crumple beneath him and he fell down and hit his knees. He felt someone standing over him and when he realized that it was Snape's voice asking if he was alright, he quickly backed away from the man, images from his time in the cell and the Dursley's come back to him and all rational thought left him.
Snape backed away when he realized what was happening. He quickly called Pomfrey into the room.
"Severus, what happened?" the woman asked.
"I wish I knew," Severus said, looking sadly at the boy that was cowering from him.
"Harry?" she tried, moving to stand in front of Severus. So that when he looked up he only saw her.
"Yes?" he answered quietly.
"What happened?"
"Nothing, can I go?" he asked.
Pomfrey tried to be as gentle as possible in her tone. "I'll have to give you a look over before I can let you go."
Harry nodded jerkily, starting to calm down, knowing that nothing could happen now that he was back at Hogwarts.
"Just a bunch of curses, Pomfrey, nothing to fuss about, I'll be fine!" he tried.
"Severus, you've been under the Cruciatus Curse! And several others I will not even dare to mention," she said, her voice laced with concern.
"It's nothing, woman! Just let me go and brew some potions and I'll be fine!"
Harry's eyes started darting around nervously as he listened. He felt his heart start to race, but then calmed it. He gazed at the ground, shuddering as he remembered the way Snape had looked into his eyes that had shown such hatred as he said "I hate you" then pushed him back with enough force to knock him out.
Harry wondered what happened to make Snape hate him so much in such a short period of time. Logic told him that it wasn't possible unless he was under the influence of some potion or curse. So what happened? He hoped that it hadn't been Snape saying those things, but even if it wasn't, they brought up fears that had been hidden beneath the surface of his consciousness for a while. And now that it was brought back to the surface, the doubts would be a long time in going away.
Suddenly the door to the Hospital Wing burst open and Harry jumped almost a foot in the air and screamed. He hadn't been prepared or fully calmed down before Dumbledore quickly walked in and moved to Harry.
"Harry, my boy, are you alright?" he asked. Making sure to stay a few feet away, noticing the jumpy Harry that had come into the Hospital Wing a month ago.
Harry made sure to calm himself down before he said anything. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, nodding as he did so, hoping Dumbledore wouldn't push the issue and let him be for a while. Something finally going my way, he though as he heard Dumbledore walking away and toward Severus.
Harry's mind wandered and didn't listen to what the two men were talking about. He thought about where he was going to stay and what he was going to do now. He couldn't go back to the Dursley's and he couldn't go to an orphanage. What could he do? He felt a hand on his shoulder and, after biting his lip to keep from screaming, he jumped and jerked his head to see Sirius standing beside him with a worried look on his face.
"Harry? Are you alright?" he asked.
Harry sighed, his head hung, that was what Snape asked him minutes earlier. "Yeah, I'm fine," he told Sirius, mind elsewhere.
Sirius could see Harry wasn't all there with him and asked, "Did something happen?"
Harry shook his head, "Not now, Sirius. Later, maybe, but please don't ask me right now." Harry was afraid that he would break down at having to state everything out loud, like it would be official that Snape hated him. And besides, Sirius would probably kill Snape when he heard what happened. He chanced a look at Snape and saw Dumbledore looking at him as Snape talked. Harry looked away quickly and stood.
"Where are you going?" Sirius asked.
"The Common Room," he said. He started to walk away. "To see Ron and Hermione."
Harry made it out before anyone could call him back. He was surprised by that as Pomfrey would have wanted to make sure he was alright before he left, but he was thankful that Dumbledore told her not to call after him. He knew it had to be Dumbledore because he was the only person that the nurse would listen to about her patients. He also wondering about why he wasn't receiving many lectures, not that he was complaining, but he thought Dumbledore would have been on him like Filch on a misbehaving student.
But no matter, he was just as content to go back to the Common Room and see his friends, just as long as they didn't ask him where he had been. Walking down the empty halls he wondered if his friends would know of his disappearance. A part of him wanted his friends to know and for them to worry but the other part of him didn't want them to worry at all. He smiled when he saw the Fat Lady. He was back at Hogwarts, out of danger, and home.
He quickly said the password and crawled inside. He saw Ginny first, she was sitting on the couch near the fire smiling, though lost in thought. She looked up to the mantel then shook her head and her smile grew. He looked around the room and what he saw made him groan. Ron and Hermione were snogging by the table.
Ginny heard him groan and looked over to him and motioned him over. "Hey," she whispered, not wanting to disturb the snogging couple.
"Hey," he said, sitting down next to her.
"What's going on? I thought we were going to meet here a few hours ago?" she asked. "Get caught up with Sirius?"
Harry sighed, apparently they didn't know about what he did. He looked at her and her smiled started to fade. She looked concerned and asked, "What happened?"
Harry stared into the fire as everything that happened came to the forefront of his mind. Harry looked over to see if Ron and Hermione were listening, but found the portrait closing. He took a deep breath and started to tell her what happened, from finding out that Snape wasn't on Hogwarts grounds, to figuring out a plan, to actually going with Dobby, and to finally coming back to Hogwarts. He did leave out the parts about what Snape said and did, because he knew Ginny would be livid and want to go give Snape a piece of her mind.
Ginny was speechless. She sighed in sadness and disappointment. "Harry, why didn't you tell us?" she asked.
Harry shook his head, "Because I didn't want to make the same mistake twice and put you guys in danger again. And besides, I knew if I told you guys you'd either want to come or tell Dumbledore so I didn't go. I was the only one who had the best chance at getting Snape and bringing him back still breathing! If the Order had gone in, there was no chance that Snape would be here now. The Death Eaters would have been told to skip their torture sessions and just kill him so he couldn't get back here. So I did what only I could do: I made a plan, stuck to it, and technically, it worked and I got Snape back in one piece. Is there something wrong with that?" he asked her.
Ginny smiled slightly. "No, there's nothing wrong with wanting to get your dad back in one piece. It's the way you did it that made it wrong. You didn't tell anyone where you were going, you went into Death Eater territory with only Dobby as protection, and you didn't think the whole situation out thoroughly. Because if you did," she said, as Harry tried to interrupt. "You would have just had Dobby go in and bring Snape back out instead of putting yourself in danger as if it was the only way," she explained.
"But I didn't go without anyone know that I was going," he told her.
Harry didn't think that Ginny's eyes could go that wide as she said, "Who knew?"
"Dumbledore and Remus."
"And they just let you go?" she asked, horrified.
"Not really, Dobby told Dumbledore, who apparently told Remus, who chased me across the grounds."
Her eyes were very wide when he finished his explanation but she said, "So you went without anyone's permission, then. But you still could have had Dobby go instead of going yourself as if it's your job to do so."
Harry thought for a moment. She had a point. He wish he had thought of that and then he wouldn't be having this discussion. But still, the fact that he was slightly grateful that he didn't came to his mind. If he had, he never would have found out that Snape hated his guts. Harry wished that he could have done just what Ginny had said and he would still have a life with his father. But what would have happened if he hadn't known? Would Snape have become even more violent?
"Harry?"
Harry looked up from his thoughts and looked into worried eyes of Ginny. Ginny seemed to be trying to find out what was wrong by just looking in his eyes. "What's wrong?" She thought for a moment. Then recognition dawned in her eyes. "You didn't tell me everything, did you?" she asked.
Harry looked down at the floor. He didn't want to tell her. If he told her, not only would she be angry, but he wouldn't be able to take the words back, it would be official. Harry shook his head.
Ginny nodded her head in understanding. "Alright, but whenever you want to talk about it, just let me know," she offered.
Harry smiled gratefully at her. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," he had to crush the urge to spill his guts about what Snape said: now wasn't the time.
"So what have you been up to?" Harry asked.
Ginny looked around the room, "Well, apparently less than what those two are doing," she said with a knowing smile. "Nothing much really. We just sat around and made fun of Ron, joked about school, made fun of Ron, and," she paused. "Did I mention that we made fun of Ron?" she asked with a straight face.
Harry laughed. "Yes, I think you did. That seemed to take up most of your time," he observed.
Ginny nodded her head with a smile. "Pretty much. It was too fun to pass up!"
Harry smiled and shook his head; his friends were so weird. He then saw Ginny look up over his shoulder, and then back to him. Harry knew someone else was in the room with them and wondered who it was. The only reason that he didn't jump when he felt a hand on his shoulder, was because Ginny wasn't worried. So when he turned around he saw Dumbledore standing behind him. Harry looked back at Ginny who smiled at Harry. He knew he was going to get a lecture now, he had to. Dumbledore had gone a whole thirty minutes without telling him that it was wrong of him to go get Snape, so he assumed that it was time now.
He stood up, and so did Ginny. "I've got to go," he told her. "I'll be back later,"
Ginny nodded and sat back down, looking at him with concern as he left the room with Dumbledore.
Harry walked with Dumbledore to his office. Harry wondered what was going to happen, whether or not Dumbledore would put a spell on him or something to make sure he didn't leave grounds. But he knew that Dumbledore would keep a close eye on him when, or if, someone went missing again. They got to the gargoyle and Dumbledore said the password and they both walked up the stairs.
Harry sat down in the chair across from Dumbledore and stared at the desk. High enough that he could see what Dumbledore's expression was, but low enough that it looked like he was looking at a low part of the desk. Dumbledore just sat there, looking at Harry, waiting for him to look up at him. Harry sighed, he closed his eyes and plucked up his Gryffindor courage and opened his eyes and looked up at Dumbledore. He knew what he did was wrong, but he knew he did the right thing at the same time, that alone made it a bit easier to look at the Headmaster: he knew he did the right thing.
"Harry?" he asked, face still passive. "What happened in the cell?"
Harry's eyes widened slightly. That wasn't what he expected. But he couldn't tell the man what happened, he could barely admit to himself what happened. Harry shook his head, still looking at the Headmaster, he couldn't say it.
"Harry, no one else knows what happened in that cell except for you."
That got Harry to talk. "Why don't you ask Professor Snape? He knows exactly what happened," he said sadly.
Dumbledore looked confused for a moment, "Harry, I've heard his side of the story, and the only thing that he knows is that you came into his cell, led by Lucius Malfoy, and was thrown inside. Then when you awoke, you were very cold toward him. Why, Harry? What happened?" he asked, concern lacing his voice.
Harry stared into Dumbledore's eyes, knowing that he probably was able to tell what was going on inside of him. "He hates me."
Dumbledore looked taken aback, and Harry cringed. He hadn't meant for it to sound so helpless, but when he said it, he knew it couldn't be taken back, and everything that had happened earlier came back to him.
"Harry, Severus does not hate you! What would possibly give you that idea?" he asked.
"He told me so," he said, making sure his voice was stronger this time.
"Harry, Severus told me everything, and I know he did not leave anything out, at least concerning you," he said with a twinkle in his eyes, and Harry chuckled slightly. "But he knows nothing of what happened until you were thrown inside his cell."
Harry shook his head. "What happened, occurred in the cell. So of course he doesn't know anything that happened while I was outside of it, but he was inside with me, so how he doesn't know is beyond me," he told the man coldly.
"Harry, why don't you tell me what happened?"
Harry sighed and leaned back in the chair, looking at the different portraits of the former Headmasters, wondering how he was going to tell him. He chose to start after he saw Malfoy. "I woke up in the cell with Snape after meeting Malfoy in the hall. I found him asleep and I went over to him," he said, remembering what happened. "He woke up and said 'Potter' in that tone that he used for the past few years. I was confused, so I asked what happened and he basically told me that it was my fault that we were there and that he made it sound like it was a hardship for him to take me. I thought that it couldn't be him, he didn't talk to me like that a few minutes earlier, so I asked him what the Death Eaters did to him and he said that they opened his eyes to how much I ruined his life," he said, tears coming to his eyes, he was appalled to hear his voice crack again. He tried again. "I moved closer to him, trying to reason with him, he raised his arms and I thought he had realized what was happening and was back to his regular self, but when I got close enough he pushed me back and I fell on the floor. He stood up and…" he stopped, remembering all that Snape had said.
"My eyes were opened to how stubborn and truly arrogant you are…you foolish boy!"
"I hate you."
"And what, Harry?" Dumbledore asked when Harry stopped talking, his eyes glazing over.
Harry came out of his memories and shook his head. "He told me he hated me, he said it with such venom and then he pushed me and I ended up being knocked unconscious. Then I woke up and he acted like he didn't know what happened moments before, he tried to fool me into being concerned. Then Dobby came," he said, sounding defeated even to his own ears.
Dumbledore sighed, "Harry, I can tell you that the person telling you those things was not Severus. I know that he did not say any of those things. And Severus would never push you, he saw what happened at your uncle's and he would never do that to you," he said with conviction.
Harry lowered his eyes and shook his head. "Thank you sir, but you weren't there, he was just like he was last year." He looked up and said sadly, "No one can act that well."
Dumbledore looked sadly at his young pupil. He knew that things had to be put right, and he knew just how to start the wheels in motion. "Very well, I shall talk with Severus and see what happened," he said, standing.
Harry started to stand but Dumbledore motioned for him to sit. Harry looked at him questioningly and was about to ask what was going on when Snape walked out onto the balcony behind Dumbledore. Harry's mouth closed slowly as he watched as Snape came down the stairs, never once taking his eyes off of Harry's.
Harry's stomach contracted as he watched Snape walk down the stairs. He hated that Snape heard the whole thing and that Dumbledore allowed him to! Now Snape knew how much it bothered Harry about what he did. The look in Snape's eyes was not one of loathing or hatred, but of sadness and concern. He wondered what Snape would say when he got down from the steps. The thought of running from the room came to his mind, but he couldn't move, it was almost as if he was frozen to the chair.
Harry's eyes shown with apprehension and sorrow, and it broke Severus' heart to see those emotions shine in his eyes so strongly as he approached. He knew that Harry thought he said all those things and did all those things, but he would never talk to Harry like that again let alone push him to the ground.
Severus had no idea how he was going to fix what the man had done. He had only one conclusion to who impersonated him and made Harry think he hated his guts: Malfoy. He was the only person in their "little group" who was intelligent enough to think of that kind of plan and then go through with it. And besides, the fact that it was only Malfoy who brought him in also helped with his deductions. Malfoy's intelligence wasn't very high, but at least higher than the others. When he got his hands on that man he was going to definitely cause him some pain. But for now he had other issues on his hands, and that was getting Harry to believe that he would never, and didn't, do anything like what he said "he" did to him.
No one noticed that Dumbledore left the room and went to his quarters to allow the two dark haired men to talk.
Snape made it down off the stairs and walked over to the seat next to Harry and turned it so it was facing the young man.
Harry ducked his head slightly, finally breaking eye contact since Snape showed himself on the top of the stairs. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he knew he wanted to leave as soon as possible.
"Harry, I'm going to tell you what happened on my end of the story, and not leave anything out." Harry's head snapped up in horror. "Concerning you," he finished with a smirk.
Harry smiled slightly, but caught himself and averted his eyes again. "Alright," he said, telling the man to start. Harry was bracing himself for the story that made Snape hate him so much, if it was a curse, potion, or just him realizing how annoying and burdensome he was.
"When you told me you were coming, obviously I was upset with you, disappointed, sure. But slightly flattered that you would risk your life to save me." Harry smiled sadly. "So I told you to come on and get it over with it you weren't going to change your mind. That was as much for your sake as it was for mine. I knew if you waited any longer you would be in danger of getting caught, because around that time, maybe an hour after that, there would be a bunch of Death Eaters coming."
"Why?" Harry couldn't catch himself as he asked.
Snape sighed, "I overheard Lucius telling some of the less intelligent members of the group that that night would be the night that the Dark Lord would come to see me."
Harry's eyes went wide and then he collapsed back into the chair and sighed in relief: he made it just in time.
"And it was also for my benefit because I didn't want to worry for a long period of time. So you came in and then I startled you." Harry smiled at the memory. "Not intentionally I assure you. I was just checking on your progress when you said Lucius was in front of you. I was sure Lucius would take you into another cell and," he stopped, thinking. "Anyways," he continued. "So I didn't know what he would do to you. I knew that Lucius would probably bring you to the Dark Lord with me, which I wasn't very happy about. But after about thirty minutes, Lucius brought you in and threw you into the cell. When I saw you at first, I thought you were dead, but when I went over to you, I saw you were still breathing. Then you woke up and, well, you know the rest," he finished.
Harry shook his head. "That's not everything," he stated. "Why don't you tell me why you said those things? All those thing that you have been harboring for weeks against me. If you didn't want me around you should have just told me and I would have gone to the Tower. You didn't have to lie."
"Harry, I didn't lie, I wasn't lying. That's all that happened from the time you told me you were at Death's Door to the time that you woke up and were yelling at me. I know nothing of what happened between you and, well, me," he finished lamely.
Harry rolled his eyes and sighed. "Then who was it that I was talking to?"
Snape sighed. "I have a theory, but only a theory." Harry gave him a look that asked, "Well, what is it?" Snape continued, "I think Lucius made a polyjuice potion and tried to hurt you, and me, by pretending to be me to destroy the relationship that we had."
Harry gave him a doubtful look. "But polyjuice takes a month to make."
Snape nodded his head, but smiled slightly. "Yes, but they have lots of polyjuice around in case they need it. Different strengths that can last for certain amounts of time depending upon the strength of the ingredients and such."
Harry's eyes went wide as he saw the realization of this. But he still wasn't sure, how could he be sure?
Snape sighed, he needed to show Harry that he wasn't lying. But how could he do that? Wait, that's it! "Harry, give me a moment, please," he said, getting up and going back up the stairs.
Harry was a little confused. Why was Snape leaving and going back up the stairs? But he didn't have to wait long because he came back down moments later, with Dumbledore.
Dumbledore went behind his desk and took out his pensive and put it on his desk without a word. Snape pulled out a memory and put it in the pensive. Dumbledore went inside and Harry gave Snape a very confused look, but Snape just watched the pensive and Dumbledore came out after a few moments.
"Harry, the memory in there has not been tampered with. Everything in that memory is what happened and only what happened, nothing added or taken away, I assure you," Dumbledore said, motioning for Harry to go into the pensive.
Harry hesitated, looking at the pensive and to Snape, then back at the pensive, taking a hesitant step.
As if he read his mind, Snape said, "I'm giving you permission to watch this one."
Harry nodded and then walked over to the desk and went into the memory.
Harry looked around and saw the cell that he had been imprisoned in and Snape sitting in the corner looking concerned and looking at the door. Then the door swung open and Lucius Malfoy stepped, dragging an unconscious Harry Potter behind him. He looked at his knees and saw slight scrapes from where he had been drug that he hadn't noticed before. It was a very odd sensation, watching yourself being flung into a cell with no care to his person.
"Harry! What did you do to him, Lucius?"
Harry watched as Snape made his way, slowly and painfully, toward his unmoving body. Malfoy turned and left without a word, and Harry watched as Snape checked him over and then propped him up on the wall. Harry moved forward and waited for himself to wake up. He watched Snape as he moved back to where he was and looked from Harry to the door and back to Harry every minute it seemed. It looked like, from Harry's point of view, that Snape was making sure no one else was going to come through that door.
Harry watched moments later as he groaned. Harry's stomach clenched painfully as he waited for Snape's snide remarks.
But they never came.
He watched as Snape said, "Harry?" and he quickly sat up and started to back away from Severus with fear in his eyes.
"Harry?" Severus asked again, and Harry watch as his memory self flinch.
He saw nothing else as he was taken from the pensive.