Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his wondrous world belong to J.K. Rowling. This story is just for kicks and giggles.
Summary: Snape's position as a spy is compromised when Harry's life is threatened. The beginnings of a journey together
Spoilers: For all the books since I've read them all at least once by the way, this story takes place after book five
Warning: This story is rated R for previous and upcoming events, including child abuse, graphic violence and the like. If you are bothered by such themes, I suggest that you do NOT read this chapter.
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Circumstance
By Libellule
Chapter Thirteen
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Rain had never felt heavier, Harry thought, as he trudged along the uneven way behind Snape. The farm was supposedly at the end of this road, but the route seemed to wend into forever along the Irish countryside.
The dirt path was now muddy and filled with treacherous rocks and stones that had sunken hazardously into the road, hiding amidst the muck and mire. On either side of them massive plains of overgrown grass stretched in every direction, upwards over hills and downward into valleys, though Harry could hear the dull roar of the ocean to his left so he knew they were still near the coast, even though he could not see it through the heavy rain.
Forgotten stone ruins dotted the landscape intermittently, and when Harry passed one he couldn't help but pause to survey the crumbling structure, despite his exhaustion. Snape, of course, had no tolerance for this and continued staunchly ahead so that Harry was forced to move on. Harry didn't know the way to the farm- for that matter, he wasn't sure that Snape knew the way either.
Naturally, the rain had begun not twenty minutes into their walking journey. Starting with small sprinkles, the rain had been more annoying than hindering. Then the sky had opened up, dark voluminous clouds filled to the breaking point burst apart suddenly, releasing a torrent of furious water upon them.
The words no magic rang in Harry's ears.
It was absurd, really. A simple water repelling charm would easily keep them dry, but they couldn't even risk that small measure of magic. This was a remotely inhabited territory to begin with. Wizard activity in this area would be blatantly obvious to those searching for them. At this point Harry would have been grateful for some shelter, a small house where they could seek sanctuary or even cover under a tall tree (presently, Harry would have risked getting struck by a bolt of lightning if it meant being out of the rain for a few minutes), something-anything to provide a reprieve from this deluge.
But there was no reprieve. They were on the lonesome road to nowhere. Rain pelted them, driving hard into their skulls like age-old water torture. Harry's limbs were cold and heavy, weighted down with water.
Gusts of wind blasted at them, sharpening the coldness the rain had left on their skin. Harry shivered as the wind picked up, pounding the rain into them at a new angle.
The road curved upward and they were forced to continue uphill as the indiscriminate rain fell upon them without remorse. Brown mud colored water ran in tiny rivulets down the inclined earth, splashing muck onto them as they trudged forward.
Harry tripped again and again, even Snape staggered in the mud, and each time it took more and more effort for Harry to rise and continue forward.
Why is it so far? Harry thought as he pushed himself up, I thought Dumbledore mentioned it was within walking distance of the ferry.
He kept his eyes trained on Snape's black shape, for that was all he was to his dim, tired eyes, a blurry, black shape shifting in front of him...
Somewhere between realizing that he was incapable of feeling his limbs and was unable see straight, Harry decided that he couldn't take another step.
"Snape-," he managed to say before the world tilted and he lost his balance.
Snape spun around in time to seize Harry just shy of hitting the muddy earth.
"Potter!," Snape exclaimed supporting the near unconscious boy. " Merlin, you're freezing," he gasped as he clutched him by the shoulders.
"C-can't stop shaking, " he mumbled, letting his eyes fall shut. He went slack in Snape's grip, his energy finally giving out.
Harry was fading fast. His eye lids were heavy and his body was so cold that he could no longer feel it.
"Do not fall asleep," Snape commanded, trying to right Harry onto his feet.
Harry couldn't have kept his eyes open even if he wanted to- even if his life depended on it, and decidedly, it did. He trembled uncontrollably, as his body tried futilely to regain its lost warmth.
"M'tired," Harry murmured. He sagged against Snape, a dead weight dragging them both down into the muddy road.
" Be that as it may, I still expect your undivided attention," Snape said quickly. He faltered for an instant unsure of exactly how to proceed. The trembling was beginning to subside, though Harry was as cold as ice, and Snape knew that was not a sign of improvement.
Snape suddenly made a noise of disgust and said, "How pathetic you are, Potter. "
Harry wanted to disagree, to put him in his place, but all he could manage was, "mmmmm... "
Consciousness slowly seeped from him, like the heat draining from his body.
" Letting a little rain get the better of you- I should have known that you'd be weak like your idiot father, " Snape said in a rush. "He never thought things through- always hotheaded and impulsive and substandard. Even when tormenting me it was always some gutless scheme barely followed through with the help of that no good dog Black-. "
"Not true," Harry mumbled in argument.
" Oh, no?" Snape sneered. "I think it is. It's no surprise to me that I am still here while they are not. "
"Shut up," Harry said fiercely. Anger pushed Harry out of his stupor, trickling heat into his brain, fueling his voice to rise heatedly. "My father and Sirius had more honor than you'll ever have, he said fiercely. Their good names should stick in your throat. "
Harry was sitting up now, shivering, eyes alert and full of rage, glaring with hatred at Snape.
"Welcome back among the living, " Snape said quietly.
" What?" Harry snapped, irritated. Snape had just said some nasty things about his father and he was what- concerned suddenly?
If Harry hadn't been so provoked and fatigued, he might have concluded that Snape would have said anything to get him riled up- to make his adrenaline spike, to wake him up. Sleep at this point would mean death.
"Can you stand? " Snape asked.
"Yes, of course I can- " he started shortly, but then teetered violently upon standing. His head felt like it was full of cotton. And he couldn't stop shaking.
Snape reached out to steady him, but Harry pulled away, obviously still angry at the unwarranted jeers from Snape.
"Then on your feet, Potter! " Snape snapped. "We'll need to find shelter to wait out the storm, " he said more calmly. "You'll have to walk. I'll help you if you let me."
Begrudgingly, Harry accepted Snape's aide, realizing that he would not be able to continue on his own.
They persisted on the road as it made no sense to wander off course when there were no signs of shelter for miles around.
Adrenaline faded fast, and Harry felt himself grow tired again. His eye lids drooped, becoming difficult to keep open.
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It became painfully clear to Snape that the boy was incapable of walking any farther, despite his verbal efforts to keep him awake and alert.
"M'sorry, " Harry slurred, " I can't... "
" Quiet," Snape growled in no mood for Harry's self reproach as the boy sagged against him.
Even to Snape's cold skin, having become frore from the unrelenting rain, Harry was without question extremely frigid.
Snape looked desperately around, wiping his wet hair away from his eyes as he searched the horizon for a place where they could find refuge.
There was nothing, no shelter Snape could take him to.
Unless...
His eyes fixed upon a ruin standing stubbornly amidst overgrown grass and shrubs. From this distance Snape wasn't even sure it was more than a single pillar of stacked stones, but it would have to do.
" Potter, we must walk a little way," he said, but Harry did not say anything. "You can not fall asleep, " Snape said nudging the boy.
Harry was not listening to him.
"Potter!" Snape barked in his gruffest Potion's Master voice. Harry's eyes opened slowly at the sound, but they were unfocused and closed again without acknowledging Snape at all.
He slung Harry's arm across his shoulders and helped him to walk as he guided them to the rocky remains.
As they approached the structure, Snape analyzed it quickly, sweeping his eyes across what was left of a once magnificent tower of stone. Part of an archway persistently lingered, supported by two columns, wild ivy weaving thickly around the stone bricks. Though its stability remained to be seen, it would provide a welcome shelter from the assailing rain. Two walls met to form a corner, acting as a third support for the arch, and the foundation of a knocked down perimeter wall could still be made out in the tall grass.
Snape lifted Harry over the stone base and leaned him back against the corner. He was small for a boy his age, not very tall and possibly too thin. He could see now how prolonged exposure to weather conditions such as these would be damaging to Harry.
There really wasn't a choice, he realized. It was obvious that Harry was suffering from hypothermia, but how severe it was, he did not know. Snape suspected that he himself was slightly hypothermic.
" Potter, " Snape spoke softly to the near unconscious boy. "You're going into shock. You must get out of these wet clothes. "
Harry moaned softly, but did not respond otherwise.
This was not good. He could not use magic here. They were in the most vulnerable position, and to risk magic here could mean their deaths. His own, Snape could abide by, but Harry's he could not. And so his hands were tied. Inaction would certainly lead to death by hypothermia. Magic would possibly lead the Death Eaters right to them.
With magic, Snape reasoned, there was at least a chance.
There actually was no way around it. He would have to use magic. Snape's own hands were shaking from the cold as he withdrew his wand.
A magical barrier would be necessary. This ruined structure barely had three walls. A barrier could not be created outside (not by one wizard anyway). It had to be given a physical limit, confined by four walls, a floor and a ceiling. Snape wondered if he could make the magic remember the dwelling as it had once been, to connect with its ghost. There was only one way to find out.
Snape raised his wand, drawing a cube in the air. He concentrated intently on the ruins, imagining what the structure ought to be, reconstructing it in his head in as exact detail as he could muster. Then with a quick swoop, he outstretched his arms wide and the cube expanded, encompassing the entire space, attaching itself to the walls as if it were a skin. The magic seemed to accept the space as fully contained, drafty and crumbling though it was.
A magical barricade was now in place, sealing the activities within from escaping. If Snape had done it right, to anyone searching for them, the formation of the barrier would only feel like a quick magical surge, nothing more magical than a breath of air.
Any magic performed within the barrier would be shielded from the outside world. It was only good for the short term, however, and lasted only as long as the conjurer could maintain it. It was very tiring, sustaining a magical barrier, which is why few wizards ever did it, and why only a few wizards actually could.
Snape swayed a little where he stood, feeling dizzy suddenly. The rain had also made him weak, and he knew that he would not be able to sustain the barrier for long.
With a flick of his wrist, he murmured a quick drying spell. His and Harry's clothes were instantly dry, but Harry's body was still shivering with cold.
For lack of anything else, Snape bundled Harry in his own cloak, which he'd packed in his bag, along with some other wizarding possessions.
Wizard or not, human bodies were very complex and fragile things. Snape knew that he had to warm the core first- heart, lungs, main arteries- allow the blood to warm and circulate through to the cold extremities. Slowly, ever slowly, one subjected to too much heat too quickly could sustain permanent damage.
Folding to his knees, Snape crawled into the corner space, pressing his back against the wall. He hissed slightly as he sat back. The stones that composed the tower wall were cold and slightly damp, but the earth he sat on was dry with heat locked into it.
" You're not going to like this, Potter, " Snape said aloud to the insensible boy, "but I assure you, it's merely to sustain your ungrateful life. "
Drawing Harry to him, Snape pulled him back against his chest, and wrapped his cape around both of them like a blanket. What little warmth they each had would be prolonged between the two of them.
Putting a delicate warming spell to his hands, Snape gently massaged warmth into Harry's shoulders, near his main arteries.
With the remaining strength that he had, Harry shied away from Snape's touch. Harry moaned again, breath sharp with pain, " too hot. "
" Shhh, " Snape hushed. "This will help you. "
Without further resistance, Harry sagged back against him, and Snape felt the violent tremors that ran through his body.
Anger coursed through him- he was angry with himself, angry with Dumbledore.
How utterly ridiculous. A very simple spell would have prevented all this. The magic that he possessed could make the rain itself tremble, but Snape knew the dangers of being caught by Death Eaters. He knew, perhaps better than anyone, the horrors in store for them were they to be captured. It would be better to let Harry die now from hypothermia, to spare him from days of complete torture, than allow the Dark Lord to get his hands into him.
Harry would not die, though, not from the Dark Lord or otherwise, Snape would see to that with his own life.
Snape felt the chill catching up to him, and was glad for an instant that Harry was unconscious, for had their positions been reversed, he knew that he would be lying face down in the mud somewhere dying from exposure.
Ever slowly, Snape felt the warmth build up between them. He grew drowsy from it. The magical barrier flickered as his concentration broke. He wouldn't be able to hold it in place for much longer.
Snape ceased the warming spell he'd placed on his own hands, a moment later releasing the barrier. The space seemed to flood with cold, however, the warmth between them remained intact.
Very gradually, Snape felt the tremors stop and Harry relaxed in his warm embrace.
" Still with me, Potter? " Snape asked softly.
"Mmmmhhhmmmm," Harry mumbled.
A faint smiled tugged at Snape's lips. He was as exhausted as Harry who was nearly asleep.
Taking this opportunity, Snape studied him carefully.
The boy had almost died and not from a hex, but his own carelessness. Snape couldn't allow something like this to happen again. Asleep, Harry looked vulnerable, very young and innocent.
Too young to defeat the Dark Lord, Snape thought.
The savior of the wizarding world was a sixteen year old boy. Was he strong enough? Did he possess the cunning to match wits with the Dark Lord? In truth, Harry had faced off against Voldemort more times than any wizard alive. If this boy truly was the only one who could defeat the Dark Lord then Snape had to do better.
This worry surfaced in his mind as he drifted off to sleep...
To be continued...
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Author's Notes:
This was a nice long chapter for ya. I know that I switched point of view's on you for a few paragraphs, but what fun would it be to have Harry black out and that be the end of it? No fun at all!
Thanks everyone for reviewing my story. I really look forward to hearing from you, so please keep the reviews coming. I've had some real encouragement that I desperately needed, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Stay tuned for updates at my webjournal. I'm serious! Some Harry/Snape artwork might be the next update (before chapter 14) and so you'll have to check my webjournal if you're interested in seeing that. Bravejournal is actually pretty good- I wish more people had it. I really don't like LJ all that much. shrugs
As always, I hope to get the next chapter out sooner than later, but no promises (once a month seems to be my average).
Feedback is appreciated (oh please let me know how I'm doing!). Want to discuss? e-mail me please or visit my webjournal!
They're both in my ff . net profile, see above.
Thanks everyone!
-Li