HARRY POTTER AND THE MARK OF GRYFFINDOR
By Geena
Chapter 17: Marcus Severus James Snape
With a plop both Snape and Harry apparated on the outskirts of the Malfoy summer residence. Harry was unable to keep his balance and stumbled into his professor.
"What the …" Snape tried to keep his temper down when Harry dropped his cloak and he discovered the stowaway.
The two men looked each other in the eye for a long time and then Snape merely sighed and nodded. He pulled Harry close to him so he could whisper in his ear.
"Since you decided to act on your Gryffindor instincts we better make good use of it."
It didn't sound as much as the insult it would have been had this been under any other circumstance and Harry relaxed. Now he was there he would make sure to be of help to his professor. Only, at this moment the family relationship was stronger than the professional one and Harry felt Snape was regarding him in a totally different manner.
"I will go inside and distract Voldemort. Meanwhile I want you to put on that cloak of yours and keep it on !" That last bit was said with a certain urge to it. "I want you to go look for Jessica and if possible take her out of there. I believe he will not have harmed her, so she'll be able to apparate you both out of here."
"And what about you ?" Harry whispered back.
Snape waved his hand. "That is of no importance."
Harry arched his eyebrow. "And who's the Gryffindor now, sir ?"
"I assure you it is very much the Slytherin way to obtain what you want."
"And that is what ? Getting killed by Voldemort ?" Harry still couldn't believe Snape was being so stoically about this.
"My main goal for being here is to get Jessica safely out of here so the baby can be born in the right surroundings. All the rest is subordinate to this."
"Even your own life ? That's taking it a bit far, isn't it. Forget Gryffindor, this is sheer Huffelpuf behaviour !" Harry said, raising his voice lightly. He was beginning to panic. Suppose he was able to get his godmother out, how was she going to react when she found out he left her husband behind ? Did Snape even know how much his wife cared for him ? Harry seriously doubted this, otherwise he wouldn't be so quick to sacrifice himself.
"For your information, there was never a question of me being in Gryffindor nor Huffelpuf." Snape snarled.
"So there was some debate on whether you were in Ravenclaw or not." Harry stated, recalling the Snapes were a Ravenclaw family.
To his surprise Snape nodded.
"I was supposed to go in Ravenclaw, but like you I suggested something else."
Harry was too baffled by this revelation to be surprised Snape knew of his argument with the sorting hat.
"Why on earth would you have chosen to be in Slytherin ?" He asked from the bottom of his heart.
Snape looked at him penetrative. "Because I believed that by doing so I could make a difference. I still believe so."
Harry's head spun. His godmother hadn't exaggerated when she told him Snape had gone to the Death Eaters with the intention to spy.
"But you were only a child back then." Harry stated.
"Indeed. Though sometimes children instinctively know what to do."
Harry pondered this for a while.
"Something must have made you do it, you just don't decide to go into Slytherin for the fun of it."
Snape gave a snort. "There is not much 'fun' to be had in Slytherin, trust me."
"What was it ?" Harry tried to catch Snape's eyes again, the need to know growing and growing.
/p>
"I overheard a conversation between my father and godfather. My godfather told him he was concerned about a new Dark Lord trying to rise. In those days Voldemort was just another dark wizard trying to get followers. But something about him made my godfather worried. He said it would be nearly impossible to know what exactly was going on if they didn't have someone on the inside and he feared that by the time Voldemort went public it would be too late. Then he said the most likely recruits would come from Slytherin and a plan formed in my mind."
"Did your father and godfather know why you did this ?" Harry asked.
"Of course. Right after the sorting ceremony my godfather called me to him and I had to explain. I had to plea with him to not resort me. Only after a very long debate and a visit from my parents did he agree to let my do as I wished."
Harry frowned. How could the Snapes have known about the sorting so soon ? Then something dawned.
"Your godfather, is he …"
"Albus Dumbledore, yes. He is an old friend of the family."
Harry nodded. It all fell into place now. Why Dumbledore had been so grief stricken when Snape was injured and most of all, why Dumbledore trusted him so much.
"Now, if your curiosity is satisfied, I suggest we carry on."
And Snape walked resolutely to the entrance of the large house.
Harry followed under his cloak. He had left his broomstick where they had apparated, knowing he could always summon it if needed. He whispered a brief "Good luck" when he left the Potions Master to commence his search. It didn't take him long to find where they were holding his godmother. Once he got upstairs he found the doors to all rooms but one wide open. Lucius Malfoy stood guard in front of the one that was closed. When an uproar began downstairs he knew Snape had made his presence known. Malfoy tried to listen to what was happening, but they were too far away to hear anything specific, except a loud "Snape!", hissed venomously. The next instant Malfoy made sure the door was locked and hurried his way down, unable to stay away from what was likely to be a spectacular show.
That was Harry's cue.
With a quick thank you to Fred and George, Harry picked the lock and entered the room. He immediately spotted his godmother and went over to her. She let out a surprised cry when he lowered his cloak. For a moment joy could be seen on her face, but then her eyes got a worried look.
"Harry, you mustn't be here. If Voldemort catches you there'll be no doubt of what he'll do."
"Don't worry." Harry said, trying to sound calm. "Professor Snape is currently downstairs distracting them so I can get you out of here."
"Severus is here ?!" She shrieked.
Harry cringed, hoping no one heard the noise. Meanwhile his godmother started pacing up and down the room, her hands wringing. He noticed she had kept up the spell to disguise her pregnancy, but her movements were obviously hindered by the weight she was carrying around, roughly one month before the delivery.
"I cannot let him do this." She said resolutely and before Harry had the chance to do or say anything, she stalked from the room.
With one last shred of sanity Harry covered himself with his cloak and followed her down. Voldemort and his minions were currently amusing themselves with throwing snarling remarks at Snape's expense. He remained unmoved by it, but when he saw his wife entering the room all colour that was left on his face drained away. Voldemort followed his gaze and stood up abruptly form his chair. The other Death Eaters followed and some were already heading towards her but with one wave of his hand he ordered them to leave her alone.
"My dear Jessica, how nice of you to join us. How clumsy of Lucius to leave you unguarded. Crucio."
Lucius Malfoy fell into a heap of convulsing limbs and Voldemort toyed with him for a while.
"As I was saying, it is a pleasure to see you again my dear. I wanted to spare you this sight, but since you are here you might as well see with your own eyes what I have in store for my beloved traitor."
He sent her an evil smile and held out his hand.
"Come to me, my dear, you will take your rightful place at my side while we watch the end of your captor. He really shouldn't have taken you away from me, you know how possessive I get."
Again that wretched smile. Until he touched her hand that is. His face
contorted in rage as he felt the magic of the charm she cast on herself.
"Finite Incantarem !" He bellowed, revealing her pregnancy.
The Dark Lord's rage was gigantic. Each and every one of the Death Eaters suffered cruciatus, Lucius Malfoy barely recovered from his earlier dosage. He yelled at them for bringing him 'damaged goods' and they all cowered away from him. Then his gaze fell on Snape. He advanced on him, wand aimed at his groin.
"You miserable, worthless piece of filth ! You're going to pay for this I tell you ! I bet you think you thwarted my plans but you're wrong. I am going to raise this child and I'll make sure he turns out the way he's supposed to. And you know what ? I'll keep your miserable hide alive so you can be a witness to all of it. How do you like that, Potions Master ?" Voldemort spat.
"However, this doesn't mean I can't do this."
He raised his wand and aimed for the cruciatus, but just when the first syllable left his mouth an enormous magical outburst blasted him against the wall. Harry looked around to see whether Dumbledore had brought reinforcements, but there was no one besides those who had been present. He followed Snape's astonished look and saw his godmother supporting herself on the edge of a chair. He rushed towards her to give her some support and that's when he felt it. A tingle of magic surrounded her and it all seemed to start somewhere around her stomach. Harry's eyes grew wide when he realised what was happening. Apparently so did the other Death Eaters and one by one fled the room. When there was only Voldemort, Wormtail and Malfoy left, Snape stood up and went over to his wife.
"I believe you just made a vital mistake." He said, as if he had known all along what would happen.
Malfoy snorted. "Figures. A child, not even born yet, had to come to your rescue. Pathetic."
"Really ?" Snape arched his eyebrows like only he can and put his hand on his wife's belly. "Well, I guess this makes me a very proud father." He continued and seeing his smile both Voldemort and Malfoy lost control and started to move towards them, wands aimed. Harry guessed they considered the two of them powerful enough to take on an unborn child.
Again they made a mistake.
In the uproar, Harry had also laid his hand on his godmother's belly and when he raised his wand under his cloak, he felt an incredible surge of power run through his body, culminating in a giant blast out of his wand, knocking the wind out of Voldemort and Malfoy.
Apparently this last blow had been a little bit much, for Jessica Snape collapsed in her husband's arms.
"Come. Leave them for the Aurors, we have to get her back." Snape urged him.
Only a few hours later, Marcus Severus James Snape was born. Both mother and child were doing fine and Harry once again had to tell his adventure to his friends.
Over the next days they found out that when the Aurors got to the Malfoy summer residence both Malfoy and Voldemort had gone, but Harry tried not to worry too much about it. He was now focussing on his new duties as a godfather.
Speaking of godfathers. Both Sirius and Remus were totally captivated by the new-born, enough for Sirius to be civil to Snape. The latter was rapidly turning from a bat into a fuming dragon. Harry and friends could only smile at such fatherly devotion, except when it was directed at them of course.
When they received the results of their OWLs Hermione came out on top of the year. Harry and Ron, who had done very well themselves, were extremely proud of her and Harry rushed to Hogsmeade to buy her a special present for him to give in private. He was rewarded with his first ever french kiss and his first reaction was to hurry back and buy out the entire store.
Much to their delight, Draco Malfoy had received severe punishments from Dumbledore, Snape and his mother. Though the Slytherin didn't show too many signs of remorse, he did go visit Jessica to tell her he had never wanted anyone to get killed. Hermione said he probably had been jealous of Harry for getting so much attention from their professor. Though that may have been the case, it didn't stop Harry from feeling even more aversion towards the Slytherin.
Surprisingly, none of the events had been reported in the newspapers, only a small announcement of the birth of Marcus Severus James Snape, with no specific details. Dumbledore explained to Harry it was of the utmost importance young Marcus would be able to grow up without everyone treating him as something special.
Now, where have we heard that one before ?
THE END
A/N: thanks for reading and reviewing and most of all: thanks for being so patient !!! This will probably be the last under NC17-rated story I'll write, but you never know, I might come back with a version of Book 6 …
