Disclaimer: Not mine, not making money, etc. This is slash. Do not read if slash offends you.

Enough

Prologue: Going Home

October 15th, 2001, 3:00pm

The man shuffled along the path in the afternoon heat, his feet barely managing to lift off the ground. His dark hair was matted and filled with debris from sleeping on the ground. His skin caked with dirt, wounds old and new marred most of his exposed skin. Dark splotches that were probably blood covered his tattered robes. His legs trembled, his body shivering as if it was the middle of winter and he without a coat. He wouldn't survive without help sometime soon. Like right now.

His goal was a small cabin that was only a few more yards in front of him, but exhaustion made it seem miles away. The only thing that kept the young man on his feet and moving was the mantra singing in his head…almost there, almost there.

The cabin door creaked open, its owner watching the stranger approach warily.

Green eyes barely focusing acknowledged the new presence with a measure of relief. He kept moving forward. Almost there. Almost there.

A flurry of brown robes, worn at the edges and oft mended blended together with the golden skin of the arms that surrounded him and a shocked voice muttering his name. "Harry!?"

"Remus." Harry Potter smiled blissfully, for the moment safe. The werewolf would take care of him was his last thought as he blacked out.

---

October 31st, 2001, 4:40pm

Harry awoke in an unfamiliar room surrounded with comfort. It was an odd feeling. He felt safe, safe for the first time in four years. The feeling lasted all of two seconds when he realized where he was. He wasn't safe here. Of all of the places in the world, other than with the Dursley's, this was the worst place he could be. This was where he had been seized the first time.

He felt as if the arms from his nightmares were slipping around him, choking him, the whisper of a spell paralyzing him, and his breath quickened as panic took hold. He had to get out of here. His body ached and objected to moving at all, but Harry didn't care. He moved as quickly as he could from the bed. This wasn't the hospital wing so he must have been here for some time. 'What day was it? What day!?'

He grabbed clothes from the dresser not caring if they fit. His only thought was get out, get away. Find someplace safe to hide. The one thing he had counted on was Remus keeping his existence hidden and now…

They would know Harry was still alive. They would know where he was.

Harry slipped out of the door and into the shadows of the hallway. His steps were light and quiet. Only an animal with sharp hearing would have been able to hear his passing. It was a skill learned by necessity, rather than taught. And he had the scars to prove it. Though it was nothing like the scar that throbbed in warning right now.

'No. Not now! Not yet!'

Harry hurried toward safety, toward freedom, following the twists and turns of the stairs and corridors by blind instinct. His blood sang hotly through his veins beating to the rhythm of the encroaching night. He breathed carefully through his nose and listened for the sound of anyone else that might happen to be near as he all but ran for the entrance. He almost made it as the first spasm slammed into him and he fell to the floor.

Harry screamed as if he was being ripped apart. He never made it out of the doors of Hogwarts.

---

The howl of a wolf broke Severus' concentration. The potion, which he'd been working on for days, spilled half finished to the floor. 'I'll kill Lupin.' With a flick of his wrist, his wand fell from his sleeve into his palm and he cleaned the mess from the floor and his workbench before stalking out of the room in search of the wayward werewolf.

As he made his way from the dungeons to the Great Hall, Sirius Black nearly ran him over. "Black…"

"Snape…" Sirius grabbed his collar and snarled.

"What's Lupin…"

"What did you…"

"...doing outside his chambers?"

"...do to Remus!"

"What?"

Sirius paled. "Remus is in his room."

"Then what are you blathering on about? And what was that awful noise? Did you forget to take care of his needs before he changed, Black?" Severus sneered.

"It. Wasn't. Remus!" Sirius growled. "He's crawling the walls, Snape. You did something to his potion."

"I did nothing of the sort. The potion was perfect as always."

A new howl crammed the deserted hallways.

"Merlin…" Sirius shuddered.

"Lupin is still in your chambers?"

"Yes. I locked the door behind me." Sirius nodded, his dark hair falling into his eyes.

"I'm going to find Dumbledore." Twisting free from Black, Snape hurried off in the direction of the Headmaster's office, Sirius falling into step behind him. Who, or whatever it was, was inside Hogwarts, a danger to any student who happened to be wandering at this time of night. At the entrance of the Great Hall, they were met by a horrified Headmaster who stood leaning against a wall simply staring at the creature, along with several other teachers.

There lying in the entrance to the Great Hall was the werewolf, in obvious agony, its body writhing on the floor; sharp, aware eyes that pleaded to be put out of its misery. Its coat glowed in the moonlight, a silver halo surrounding its body.

Black choked out a barely heard 'Harry?' that Severus almost missed in the howling of the wolf. A wolf that looked remarkably like the creature that had sat in anguish at Voldemort's feet for the past three years. It was an animal that Snape would know anywhere. Four bright white strips stood out upon his back, outlining the silver tattooed scars and those green-gold eyes that had watched with such intelligence his every move every time he made an appearance at the Death Eater meetings. All this time Harry had been right under his nose and he didn't know.

Horror filled him as he realized just what Harry had seen and what he'd seen Harry do in Voldemort's name. It was enough to make him want to run back to his rooms and drink himself into oblivion. Harry was very much alive and the most wanted criminal in the country. But for now, someone had to shut the wolf…no the boy up. And he was the only one who knew how.

Snape pulled a bottle from his pocket, conjured a bowl and poured the contents into it before pushing it over to Harry with his foot. Nothing would get him within twenty feet of the…Snape didn't even know what to call Harry anymore. He just knew how dangerous the boy really was. It wouldn't be much longer before the pain overcame any sense Harry retained in this form and he lashed out at anyone that came close to him.

With a grateful look, the boy lapped at the mixture in the bowl until it was gone and huddled on the floor waiting for the potion to take affect.

"Snape…"

"What now, Black?"

"I think you've got some explaining to do."

Severus nodded, pulled his wand out of his sleeve, but never took his eyes off of Harry. He wasn't moving until Harry passed out.

It all made sense now…the last meeting with Voldemort.

"So, Harry Potter is alive after all?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Good, good. You will keep a sharp eye on the boy and let me know if anything unusual happens, won't you, Severus?" Voldemort hissed in a weird sort of pleasure, anticipation lacing his every word.

"Yes, my Lord."

"Now, what news do you have for me?"

The memory trailed off only to be replaced by the realization that it wasn't the return of Lupin that caused many of his Slytherins to disappear from the school, but Harry's presence. They had all assumed that someone had seen Lupin arrive with Harry's half broken form his arms and panicked.

No, this was Voldemort doing. Voldemort had anticipated a blood bath and Snape would have been the first to go. He was supposed to be in the room with the boy. He never would have known he was in danger until it was too late.

It was a devious plan. He had kidnapped the boy leaving everyone to believe he was dead. All the while, Voldemort had been training his pet to be more vicious. Last month, his potion was barely able to control the animal. The one he'd given Harry tonight was something new he'd been working on. They were extremely lucky it worked at all. Otherwise, Harry would now be dead.

Was Harry's escape from Voldemort planned? It all seemed too coincidental for Severus. And Snape didn't believe in accidents.

Harry whimpered and crawled forward to Severus, begging for something. Pleading with his eyes before they rolled up into his head and he passed out.

"Is he…"

"Alive? I haven't a clue, Black."

"What did you give him?" Sirius was ready to rip out his throat for the second time that night.

"The only thing that would give him some relief. The," Snape waved at his feet expecting Black to understand the significance of his next words, "boy is…*was* Voldemort's pet werewolf." Nearly everyone in the hallway paled.

Dumbledore chose this moment to interrupt whatever Sirius was about to say. "I think we should take this conversation back to my office now that the crisis has passed. Poppy, do you think you can keep Harry contained in the med wing until we can find a permanent solution to the problem?"

"I'll use one of the private rooms, Headmaster." Poppy levitated Harry and headed for her domain. Severus continued to watch until they both disappeared around the corner and then turned toward the Headmaster's office himself.

---

tbc...