Stay home and stay safe people! There is no better time to read happy snarry than times like these! Which reminds me, i just finished rereading Deathly Hallows and well, as we know it doesnt really have the happy ending we all want, so give me your favourite happy snarry fics my Lovelies! I want all those fun courting ships and cute coffee AUs. send them my way.
Speaking of happy and cute, well this chapter won't be either of that.
XXXI: Dormant Animals
o.O.o
"Wallace, what the hell are you doing?" Harry cried his fist banging on the glass-like force of magic.
Professor Wallace was still leaning against the desk, watching the worn floor of the Defence classroom. Harry's wild banging on the glass seemed not to have bothered him and for a moment Harry even thought he couldn't be heard, but Wallace winced a little every time Harry's hand came down on the magic as if his fisted fingers would be smacking against Wallace' face with harsh thumps.
"Why are you doing this?" Harry cried but still no answer came. "You won't achieve anything, Wallace, he would never hurt me."
"In the end, when we feel our life is in danger, we all act on instincts." Wallace said at last, still not raising his eyes, though he looked away from the ground.
"Tell me what this is all about," Harry demanded, fist coming down hard on the magic. Wallace winced, but said nothing more. "Tell me!"
He kicked at the energy that held him captive, but it didn't budge. It glimmered lightly as the force of his hits flew through it like waves of simmering hatred. "You're going to regret this," Harry growled viciously. "Let me out!" He all but screamed, but Wallace didn't move, like the forcefield he seemed impenetrable, determined to execute his plan, whatever it was.
"Why do you want me dead?" Harry yelled. "This won't work! Snape doesn't love me, he hates me!"
That made Wallace huff a soft laughter.
"Fuck you!" Harry snarled. "Fuck you, Wallace! I trusted you. I looked up to you! I learned so much from you and now you want to kill me? What the fuck is it with you Defence professors?"
"I don't want to kill you." Wallace said with a pained voice and it was the desperation in his tone that truly scared Harry. "I don't want you to die! It's not fair that it has to be you." The man admitted. "But it's the only way."
"Let me the fuck out of here, or I swear to god…" Harry grunted, knowing it was just an empty threat. There was nothing he could do. His wand was far away, and he had nothing on him to help him fight even if he did manage to get out. But his cage held him securely.
"I let you go, when he comes." Wallace said. "I promise."
"Snape? You want to draw Snape here with me?" Harry laughed out harshly. "Good luck with that."
"I have great respect for you, Harry, so please do me the honour and don't lie to me." Wallace said, finally looking up at Harry. The dark, chocolate brown eyes that used to smile with warmth were now empty.
"Honour?" Harry hissed. "Honour?! You put me in a cage and want to murder me! Is that what honour means to you, Wallace? How about you give me the honour and tell me why the bloody hell you're doing this!"
"I told you already, Harry. I watched Severus Snape through all these months, and you seem to be the only important thing in his life. If I want to hurt him, I have to do it where I can make the biggest damage."
"Then get on with it, you bloody coward," Harry spat. "Or are you afraid that you're wrong and instead of hurting him, he'll just thank you?"
Wallace laughed and for a single moment, Harry had seen the man who asked him to be his assistant. Then Wallace opened his mouth and the world froze around Harry.
"Unless you had a lovers-quarrel with him when you went to him this evening, I doubt he would be anything but livid finding you here in this little cage of mine."
Harry knew he should deny it, he knew he should open his mouth and say something. He shouldn't risk anyone finding out about them and Severus ending up losing his job. Even though his current predicament promised something even worse than a torn reputation.
Yet he just stared at Wallace, surprised, unable to speak.
"Yes, yes, I know what has been going on between the two of you. I suspected you were very important to him, when I saw him hold you after he cut your throat. He was broken, Harry, he probably loved you even then." He sighed, flashing a kind smile as if this would be just an evening chat in a bar about Harry's love life.
Harry was forced to recall the little vial of potion, the decision he had to make then. He never thought about why Snape would let him decide about his magic. He said it was Harry's life at stake, but Wallace's words made him wonder if there was something else there already. Not quite love, but not even just friendship either.
"Then I saw your duel and even I could feel the tension in the air, the sparks of your intensity." He sighed deeply, running his hand over his dreadlocks. "Then, I've seen you two today, on the corridor and it all made sense. Such a subtle touch, his fingers caressing yours, his gaze on you... Anyone would have missed it, but I've done it too many times to not understand what it means." Wallace said.
How could such a small touch betray them in the end? How? He was wearing the man's shirt, walking around in it boldly, almost making a statement, and yet it was that tiny, almost insignificant brush of fingers that had doomed them in the end? How could that be?
Wallace regarded Harry for a long moment before he continued. "You might be right, you do deserve to know, why this all has to happen." He reached into his inner pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He unfolded it, looked at it fondly as he spoke.
"Have I ever told you about my wife, Harry?" He asked then went on before Harry could open his mouth. "No, I don't think I did, why would I. I don't often talk about her since…" He had to clear his throat before he could go on, his voice was suddenly hoarse. "Our situation was very similar to yours and Professor Snape's, which is why his illicit relationship with a student is the only thing I cannot hold against him. After the first war I returned to the States. She used to be my student when I started teaching at Ilvermorny. We conducted our affair under the veil of secrecy then once she graduated, we started dating openly. We married at the end of summer and she started working as my assistant at Ilvermorny. She was a lot like you, Harry. Very powerful, thirsty for knowledge about the Arts. It was amazing to work beside the love of my life. It was the happiest time of my life and I did not think it could get any better. Then came Amanda, you remember I told you about her. She was the most beautiful, most charming little baby you could find all across the United States."
The paper in his hand must have been the photo Harry had seen previously, because he caressed it softly with his thumb, looking affectionately at it. His brown gaze was warm once again as he said. "We lived in peace and quiet. We were happy. Amanda grew up to be a sweet little thing. Innocent really, but a bright witch, very bright indeed. She loved to laugh, and she was always so happy. She inherited her mother's curiosity but instead of the Arts, she invested everything in Potions. She had a great affinity for the subject, she had a bright future ahead of her."
All warmth faded from Wallace's eyes, but it was Harry who said, "And then came Voldemort."
"Indeed, he did. I left my family and I came oversees to help the fight. I met Albus Dumbledore on these very grounds, he was a great man. I went to do my job in Ireland, but we kept in touch. He kept informing me about the movements of the Dark Lord, that help me out from a couple of deadly situations."
"You know where that information came from, don't you?" Harry spat. "From Severus. He had risked his life meeting after meeting just to get them."
"You might be right. We will never know." Wallace shrugged, then smiled once again, though it never reached his eyes. "Here's the irony of it all. I told Professor Dumbledore about Amanda, of course I did, I bragged about my pretty, clever daughter to anyone who would listen. He told me about this great Potion Master, youngest of the century, working for him. We could set up a meeting, he wrote. Amanda was beyond herself. I got letters from her every day begging me to let her to come overseas and meet Snape. I loved my daughter and I could never say no to her, but it was the summer after you fought Voldemort in the Ministry. Britain was in chaos. But she just begged and begged and in the end I agreed. I left my task in Ireland and came to London, thinking I'd be safe here, it was only for a couple of days, after all. But of course, I wasn't, no one was safe from the Death Eaters. We were to meet Snape that weekend, when they came. They tore apart my wards. I hid Amanda, but they found her and took us."
"I'm sorry, Wallace," Harry said honestly, his hand resting on the glass. "But this is not a solution. Hurting Snape will not bring her back."
"I know that."
"You can't honestly blame him," Harry tried softly. "He probably didn't know anything about it."
"Once again, we might never know that. I didn't see their faces then, just men in dark robes, hiding behind silver masks, slapping a little girl to stay quiet and don't cry. I saw black hair fall forward, saw white skinned arm branded with the Mark. I heard voices. I think I did see him back then, pushing Amanda out of the house, but maybe I didn't. It does not matter. He was a Death Eater, and he may have not taken my daughter, but he sure took someone else's at one point in time."
Harry didn't know what to say to that because Wallace might be right. No one knew what Snape had to do to keep his cover as a spy. Dumbledore's death was only one of the dark deeds, who knows how many more were still hidden, unknown not only to Harry but to everyone else.
"I have never been the same man after that night." Wallace confessed. "Neither me, nor my wife. She could never forgive me that I let her come visit, even though the decision was a shared one. Amanda's death affected her in a way none of us expected. She became violent, frighteningly so. She attacked me and soon she was institutionalized. The grief over our daughter's death turned her into a vicious animal, who would claw your eyes out with her bare hands. I wish that wasn't how you met her. She used to be a gentle soul, but something like this would break anyone."
Harry watched the man, eyes going wide. "What do you mean met her? I never met your wife."
"Oh, of course you did. Though I didn't figure that out myself only recently."
He stood and walked to Harry's glass cage. He pressed the picture against it and Harry stepped back in shock, when he realized who he was looking at.
An attractive, black-haired woman, tall and slim, tanned skinned, laughing, looked up at Harry from the photo then her warm eyes turned back on her daughter, who giggled with her, staying happy forever.
Harry had indeed met her, though it wasn't her pretty face he could recall first but her manic, shrieking voice and her long hair and how the morning wind tore into it as she stood on top of the hill near Dumbledore's grave.
"She…she…" He stuttered, looking from the picture up to Wallace's troubled face then back at her again. "She was the woman who attacked Snape and me after the battle!"
"Her name was Caroline." He said as he placed the picture on the desk next to Harry's wand. "All these months and your Aurors, the best of the best, they couldn't even figure out her name. Then again, she was very clever and even I didn't know she escaped the Institution. After she attacked me, we divorced. Her mind was in chaos, set only on revenge. She blamed Snape, as much as she blamed me, thinking it was him who tempted our daughter to come here. His name was the last thing she heard our Amanda say to her and she became fixated on it."
"This is insane!" Harry cried, his hand slamming against the magic once more. "It wasn't his fault. You cannot honestly blame him! He probably just wanted to meet a clever witch with a passion for Potions!"
"I don't blame him, Harry, I blame myself," Wallace said patiently, as if he was trying to explain another spell to Harry, another theory he might not understand. "But he deserves the same fate as the other Death Eaters. All of them needs to suffer!"
Harry growled, frustrated. Being this powerless infuriated him. He needed to find a way to get out. He leaned against the glass, palm pressed flatly against the cool magic.
"Stop this nonsense…" He pleaded. "Let me out. Please."
"I cannot, Harry. I'm sorry. Not yet anyway."
Harry closed his eyes, trying to think, trying to come up with anything that would help him escape. But his wand was too far away, and the glass cage seemed unbreakable so far. He took a deep breath, hoping against all hope that Snape wasn't going to come down when Harry would not show up on his balcony, though he suspected it wasn't just blind fate Wallace was trusting.
He became suddenly aware of the vibrating brightness in front of him. For a moment he thought his eyes were open, but the magic was invisible then, which could mean only one thing. He saw it the same way he had seen Severus' magic. He mapped it out in his head, a white cube in the darkness of his mind, impenetrable.
He pressed his fingers against the cage, saw as his own magic gathered at his fingertips, vibrated like millions of little bees. He heard a crack and his eyes opened. Wallace was standing in front of him, his eyes on Harry's hands.
"Very impressive," He complimented proudly. "I expected nothing less from you."
"This won't hold on for long," Harry snarled. "Let me out and we can pretend nothing happened."
"It doesn't have to hold on for long. Just a little longer."
"If I break out of here, you're done for, Wallace." Harry threatened. He closed his eyes once again and concentrated on the brightness in front of him. His magic reared, he could feel it roiling like the dragon in his belly then it surged forward in a powerful wave.
Keeping his eyes shut, Harry smirked as he saw a long dark crack running between his hands. He could see Wallace's magic pulse with anxiety for the first time.
"I tried to do this the right way," Wallace said but Harry ignored his voice, he only paid attention to the magic, trying to break free of his cage. "No one listened to me, thanks to Snape's high and mighty friends at the Ministry. I told everyone that he's dangerous, but no one heard me! I wrote a letter to the Board, told them about his uncontrolled magic. I went to them myself, tried to reason with them, but he talked himself out of it. No matter what they did to him, how they threatened him, how they poked him, he never lost control. I only realized why when I saw you two duel. He's utilizing that immense power now. He's getting more dangerous with every day, and yet no one, no one wants to take a move against him. He has fooled everyone, even you!"
Harry didn't pay him any mind. More and more cracks appeared around his hand spreading out. He didn't need much more time. He only hoped he could get his hands on his wand once he fractured his magic cage.
Wallace continued to talk, seemingly unbothered by Harry's progress. "I decided to look deeper into Snape's life then. I watched him closely. And last night, I found the article about Caroline attacking you. I haven't seen her in a while, but her death has struck me. My wife and my beautiful daughter both dead because of Death Eaters." He said and for the first time, Harry heard actual anger in his voice. "Don't you understand, Harry? Don't you remember what it feels like to lose the people you love the most? Wouldn't you want justice? Wouldn't you want them to suffer?"
"I just want to get out of here and kick your arse, Wallace," Harry grunted, eyes still closed firmly. He suddenly became aware of something else than the bright magic right in front of him. It moved in the corner of his eyes, vibrating with anger, familiar and blue. It made him smile, it made him feel stronger though in his mind he berated the man for coming here.
The glass cracked even more, all of Harry's power focused on that two contact points where his palms pressed against the magic, cool and mellow like water.
Wallace tittered frightened but then he must have heard something, or perhaps his ward had warned him in some way, because he said pleased, "Ah, just in time."
Harry's eyes snapped up and the next moment, the door banged against the wall and Snape marched in with a flurry of black robes behind him. "What's the meaning of this?" he hissed holding a letter in his hand, then his eyes took in the scene. The cage, shimmering where Harry's hand was touching it, Wallace standing in front of it.
Black wand was pointed fast as lightning at Wallace the next moment. Harry saw the change in Severus, as his face took up a cold mask. He looked like a man ready to kill and not even feel bad about it later. He stood there, wand held out steadily, composed, ruthless. A flick of his wrist would be enough to kill Wallace.
"I wouldn't do it," said the Defence professor. "It would only bounce back at you. Mental hospitals use these cages to keep the dangerous patients in. As accidental magic is prone to happen, its designed so that nothing can come out, while I could easily send in anything."
Snape stepped carefully forward until his wand knocked against something. The same glimmering wave of magic went through the whole classroom, from one wall to the other, sealing Snape off from them in a cage of his own.
"We waited for so long, I was afraid you might be asleep already and didn't get my message."
"You know me, Wallace, I am a nocturnal animal. I hunt at night."
"Don't I know that," Wallace said darkly. "Look how kind I was, I caught you your prey." He pointed at Harry.
Black eyes flashed. "Let him go." The cold fury in Snape's dark tone made the hair stand up on Harry's arms.
Wallace seemed unaffected as he walked closer to the wall between them.
"You know, Snape," he said, considering the man, "I was looking forward to meeting you. I thought if I worked with you, if I learned from you, then, when the time came, I could tell all about it to Amanda. You were… quite the disappointment."
Harry barely saw the movement, but the next moment angry red ball of sizzling magic burst from Snape's wand. It ricocheted from the glass, creating an upsurge of ripples. Severus simply leaned away from its way and it blasted against the heavy door.
"Make this wall disappear and I show how not disappointing I can be."
The threat only made Wallace smile. "You'll have your chance to wreak havoc. But there is one more thing I want to tell Mr. Potter."
Harry watched him turn his back on Snape, something Harry absolutely wouldn't dare do when Snape was in a such a frightening state, magic cage or no.
"Do you remember, I told you that after the Death Eaters took us, they separated me and Amanda, and I knew nothing of her during the five days they had kept me in my cage. I was certain, I'll die there, but then one night, they let me go."
"My first thought was to go and look for Amanda, but they left me beaten and bloody in a forest and I didn't even know where they held us. It was the middle of the night and I stumbled through the woods not even knowing where I was headed. Then I heard footsteps from behind me."
His face became stone as he talked in a monotone voice and Harry could tell he was reliving the memories as the words flooded from his mouth. Severus behind him was probing the glass in the meanwhile, trying to press through, break it one way or another, but his attempts were in vain.
"You remember I told you who captured us, Fenrir Greyback. I knew him by reputation, I killed many of his kind who served Voldemort. And once I realized it was the full moon, I knew he was behind me. He was chasing me, hunting me like his next meal. He loved it, he killed for the pleasure of it, even when he was human."
"I ran. I ran as fast as I could, but I was weak, and I fell. The werewolf caught up with me and slashed at my legs with its claws so I couldn't move. When the beast took a sniff of my blood, it growled with pleasure. Those eyes haunt me to this day. A werewolf may be a human somewhere deep down, but not when the moonlight takes over its mind. No human would have eyes like that, glowing with pure hunger, craving flesh. I looked at those eyes and knew it was no human before me, just a demon who wanted me dead."
Snape seemed to be listening now too, hand against the glass. He watched Wallace's back with a frown, eyes narrowed. Harry wondered if he maybe recognized the story, had heard Fenrir talk about it, or perhaps, even worse, was present when it happened, only didn't realize until now that the beaten, bloody man was the same as the kind, intelligent professor he had hired.
"I didn't have my wand, but I found a stone." Wallace said emotionlessly. "When the werewolf attacked, I smashed it against its head, and I smashed it again and again. Five days of torture, of pain gave me strength, the aching agony to see my daughter drew my hands down. I broke its skull and whining it went down to the ground, and I crashed besides it. It moved no more, but it wasn't dead either."
"They collected us not much later. The hunt was over, and I was thrown back in my cage with the werewolf. It didn't move, it barely even breathed. Its inhales were gurgling, the dying sounds of a once vicious animal."
Wallace looked at Harry, all warmth, all compassion was gone from the brown eyes.
"Fenrir walked up to my cage and laughed at me. I didn't understand why, then the werewolf started shifting back to its human form."
Wallace took the photo from the table and pressed the picture against the wall of magic, but Harry backed away, not willing to look at the pretty girl, her kind eyes, her glowing smile.
"It was Amanda, Harry. So tell me, how could I forgive that man," he pointed at Snape, "any of the Death Eaters, the very people who made me kill my own daughter? Why would any of them deserve mercy?"
Harry stared at Wallace, shocked. He was too familiar with werewolves to blame Wallace, he had seen Lupin, vicious, not human at all, ready to kill them at any moment. He looked over Wallace' shoulder, trying to catch Snape's gaze, but the man was looking at the ground, his wand lowered. He almost looked ashamed and Harry had an even horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Were you there?" He asked quietly, but his voice carried across the room in the deadly silence. His hands were trembling, but he had to know the answer.
Wallace stepped away and Severus looked up, black eyes heavy with the truth. The slight nod of his head only confirmed what Harry had already known.
"You see now," Wallace asked softly, "why I am doing this?"
Before Harry could say anything, he heard a wand clatter on the wooden floor of the classroom. They both looked at Snape.
"Kill me if you have to but let him go. He has nothing to do with this," Severus said in a broken tone. "Please, just… do not hurt him."
"Kill you? Oh no, I want you to feel what I feel. I want you to live with the knowledge that you killed the only thing in your miserable life that was good." Wallace snarled his voice seething with pain and anger. This was the first time, he was truly frightening, much like a werewolf, he had a mind of an animal, all sense devoured by aching sorrow, all thought gone and taken over by anguishing need for revenge. And Harry knew the man he liked, who cared for his students and Demiguises was gone, destroyed by the horror of war, another soul mutilated by Voldemort and his followers. "I'm not going to hurt Harry. You will, Snape!"
"I'd never hurt him." Severus said, black eyes on Harry, begging silently for forgiveness.
"Luckily, that's not up to you anymore," Wallace said then at last, he pointed his wand at Snape and the next moment a black spell hit Severus in the chest, pushing him off his feet.
"NO!" Harry screamed, his fisted hands coming down hard on the magical barrier. It cracked, thousands of thin little lines travelled through the surface of it with the wave of magic. Harry threw himself at it, his whole body clashed against the magical force and it shattered, pieces of it falling to the ground in a shimmering bright light, then dissolving into nothingness.
Wallace was already at the door, but Harry only cared about Snape. The man moved and a wave of relief washed over him.
Snape stood up looked at Wallace, who waited calmly at the door.
Wallace looked at Harry. He seemed sad, torn with regret and for a brief moment, Harry saw there underneath all that pain, the brilliant professor he liked so much. Then Wallace said with a quiet, tortured voice, "Kill him. Make it quick, don't let him suffer," and he was out of the classroom.
Severus turned slowly around. He had his wand in his hand again, but there was something off about him. Then he looked up at Harry and he saw Severus' eyes were glowing yellow. These weren't the eyes of the pretty grackle he turned into but those of a vicious beast, ready to kill.
He growled, a deep threatening sound, then attacked Harry.
