Gold - Part 4

By: Mikee

This story is the product of my own mind (muddled though it may be). The characters are, sadly, not mine. They belong to J. K. Rowling. I just play with them, and bend them to my will occasionally. Occasionally they see fit to take over the story, and then I am at the mercy of their will.

Warning: Child abuse.

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Things seemed to settle down by the next day. The terrible trio, Harry, Hermione, and Ron, sat together at breakfast, and went to potions class together. Snape assigned a particularly detailed potion to the class. As the this was a two-hour class, he took time to observe Harry; he still felt something was odd about him. To one who didn't look too closely, he seemed the same, but to an experienced wizard he appeared different. Still Snape could not pin down what was different.

At the end of class Snape went from table to table commenting and criticizing the students' efforts and dismissing each one individually. When he got to Harry he told him his potion was "adequate" and told him to remain after class.

Once the last student had exited, Snape locked the door and put a silencing spell on the room. He turned to the boy and asked, "Potter, I know something is going on, what is it?"

"Nothing, sir."

"Don't tell me 'nothing,' boy. I saw you during the holidays sitting on the Quidditch pitch inside some sort of gold misty bubble, I saw you in the library, and again there was a gold glow that flashed about you, then again next to the owley. Something is going on, and I'd like to know what it is."

"It's nothing, sir. I can handle it."

Snape yelled, "Obviously you cannot handle it, or you wouldn't have hidden in that room." As soon as he began to yell he regretted it.

Harry's eyes grew big and watered as if he were about to cry. He drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

Snape tried to get through to the boy, "Potter, I'm not here to hurt you. You probably won't believe me, but I'd like to help. Something is troubling you, and maybe if you talk it out I can help."

Harry said nothing, but began to shiver, and the air around him grew warmer. As the air got warmer the gold glow began. As the glow became more intense, Harry's shivering grew less, and a gold mist began to form around the boy.

Snape continued to talk, but it was becoming more difficult to concentrate as he was also keeping a wary eye on the boy, the gold glow, and the mist. "Potter, what is it, where are you?"

The golden mist was growing and began to engulf Snape. He felt the heat and began to feel drawn closer to the boy. He decided not to fight it and cautiously closed the distance between the two of them. As he got closer he began to hear a low buzzing. The closer he got to the boy the louder the noise became.

When he was finally inches from the boy, something, he didn't know what, made him pull up a chair and sit directly in front of him. That same force made him put his hands on the boy's knees. He tried to pull away, but something was holding him fast. He couldn't move. As soon as he quit struggling he found himself drawn in.

His first thought was that this was rather like using a pensive, with a few notable exceptions. When using a pensive all one did was observe memories or thoughts. In this… whatever it was, he was hearing, seeing, and feeling. The feeling aspect was the most disturbing as he felt both the physical and emotional things Harry was feeling.

Snape was caught in Harry's life and felt as if there were no escape. He witnessed the deaths of Harry's mother and father at the hands of Death Eaters, and felt the curse that hit Harry. The one that left the famous lightning bolt scar on the boy's forehead. He heard Voldemort's high shrill laughter as Lily and James fell dead.

Everything grew quiet and Snape was beginning to think it was over when the scene changed and he found himself witnessing a five-year-old Harry being beaten by his uncle and then thrown to the floor. Snape cried out in pain as more blows struck the boy repeatedly. He cried out again as he felt the pain when the boy was picked up off the floor and thrown into a cupboard.

The memories and feelings assaulted him time and time again. He didn't know how long he was there when finally he was able to release the boy's knees. Both Snape and Harry fell to the floor crying. Snape opened his eyes and saw a very worried Albus kneeling on the floor between himself and Harry looking down at both of them. After a minute, Albus cast a sleep spell on the professor and Harry, and summoned two stretchers then levitated them both to the Hospital Wing.

Albus had Harry and Severus put in beds that were side-by-side in the Hospital Wing and drew the curtain between them closed. He sat in a chair situated between the two beds in such a way that he could easily watch over both patients. At first sign of stirring by Severus, Albus cast a silencing spell around them both and asked, "Severus, tell me son, what happened with you and young Harry. I saw a glow under your door and went to investigate. I called your name repeatedly, but you didn't answer. I finally had to break your locking spell. What in the world spell did you use? It must have taken me ten minutes to gain entry to your class."

Tears began to course down the younger wizard's face, and it took him a minute to compose himself. Finally, he began, "Albus, the boy… Har… Potter. Is he all right?"

"Yes, my child, he is fine. He's sleeping. Now, please, tell me what happened."

Severus told Albus about seeing Harry on the Quidditch Pitch, the gold glow and mist, the vision, and then about finding him in the room next to the owlery. Finally, he told him about the events of that day. He told him about all the abuse to which he was witness, and then told him how he had not only seen and heard the torture Harry endured, but felt it as well. He ended by telling the Headmaster his body hurt even then.

When he was finished, Albus asked Severus to sit up and take off his shirt. Severus complied, and when the shirt fell away Albus breath was taken as he saw all over Severus' chest and back were welts, bruises, and cuts. He helped Severus to the bathroom and had him look in the mirror. Severus fainted. The headmaster levitated Severus back to the bed and resumed his watch from the chair.

Severus wasn't out long. When he came to, he asked Albus what had happened. Albus explained that somehow Severus had joined with Harry and experienced part of Harry's life so completely that he, too, bore the injuries of abuse inflicted upon Harry.

As Albus was explaining this a thought occurred to Severus. He wondered if any of Harry's scars would be diminished in any way as now Severus appeared to have taken some of the blows. Severus rose stiffly from his bed and went to Harry's bed. He drew back the covers, rolled the unconscious Harry onto his side and drew up the boy's pajama shirt. Both Severus and Albus were stunned by the sight before them. The scars were not less, indeed, no. The injuries appeared to be as new as those on Severus' back.

Devastated, Severus sat back on his bed. He explained to Albus what his theory had been. It had made sense, and the reality that met his eyes flew in the face of it. Madam Pomphrey came back into the room and impressed upon Severus the need for him to get some rest. She even persuaded him to take a pain killing potion as well as a sleeping potion.

Albus kept his place between his two favorite 'children'. Just as the sun was beginning to break through the clouds and herald a new day, Albus noticed a soft golden glow begin to grow around Harry. He reached out a hand and put it on the boy's fevered brow. Albus braced himself for what he thought would happen given the story he'd heard from Severus. He was therefore, quite surprised to find the glow going around his hand. He didn't fall into the boy's memories. Actually, he felt nothing more than a slight buzz around his hand.

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