Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk, staring at the fire, when Severus Snape walked out of it, with a very distressed looking Harry in tow. The potions master spoke, first stating the obvious, a sign that he was less than comfortable.
"Headmaster, I came to speak to you about Potter."
He gestured towards Harry, who was curled up so tightly on the floor that he looked as if he would fold into nothing. Dumbledore glanced at him for a moment and brought his head into his hands, obviously upset. Snape bit his lip and continued.
"He collapsed in class, and seemed overly distressed when I caught him. He seemed about to have a panic attack, so I gave him a calming potion. Now the way he's acting, something must have happened. Someone must have... He's showing the same signs I did when..."
He trailed off, unconsciously wrapping his arms around his waist protectively. Blue eyes watched him sadly.
"I truly hope you're wrong, Severus, but I doubt it."
At this, the professor seemed to come back to himself. Hurriedly dropping his arms to his sides, he cleared his throat.
"I should be getting back to my class. No doubt Longbottom has managed to destroy the dungeons by now. I'll leave you to speak to Potter. Oh, and-" Snape flicked his wand muttering 'Lucem,' and Harry pulled his arms over his face. "I'll be leaving now." He strode out the door without another word.
*********************************************************************
Harry gasped and hugged his arms to his face as he felt the familiar effects of the revealing charm. He heard Dumbledore rise and flinched as the headmaster bent down to lift his chin gently. The old man gasped at the sight that greeted him. Harry's jaw was horribly swollen, the parts of his terribly thin face that weren't bruised were ghostly white, and he looked more tired than seemed humanly possible. There were bruises on his neck that seemed to continue onto his chest, his left wrist bent unnaturally, and he appeared to have been starved nearly to death. Dumbledore forced him to gaze into his eyes and spoke softly.
"Harry, I'm going to need you to remove your robes so that I can see your injuries. Can you do that for me?"
Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder, and Harry scrambled backwards until he collided with the desk, where he curled up on the floor and tried to hold back a sob. He failed, and it tore through his throat like an arrow through wool. The headmaster stared at him wearily, waiting for him to calm himself. As he began to recover, another face appeared in the fire. McGonagall's head spoke frantically.
"Albus, I just got an owl from Mundungus. There's apparently a plan for an attack on Hogsmeade, we need you to come now."
Dumbledore nodded and turned to Harry.
"Stay here. I'll be back ass soon as I possibly can be."
*********************************************************************
Harry sat on the floor of Dumbledore's office, alone and hating himself. How could he have been so weak as to let this happen, to let them find out? He had seen Dumbledore's face, had seen his pain. He would never stop hurting people. He looked around the room and his eyes locked on the sword on the wall, Gryffindor's sword. He pulled out his wand. "Accio sword." It flew obediently into his swollen hand. The blade, with a sinister shimmer, fell in his right hand and was placed several inches below the delicate crook where the neck and the collarbone meet, as close to the heart as it possibly could be without breaking the skin. Harry gripped the hilt until his hands shook and thrust it into his pounding heart with all his strength. Dark cherry red seeped out of his robes, onto the floor, and more still spilled from his mouth as he coughed violently, gasping for breath. He suddenly realized that he had fallen to the ground where he lay in a puddle of his own blood. Its metallic scent filled his nostrils, disgustingly pungent, yet oddly fragrant. 'Pretty really, so red...' he thought vaguely. He didn't have the chance to chuckle at the irony of his last thought before he sank into the darkness.
'The Boy-Who-Lived died.'
*********************************************************************
As Severus Snape entered the dungeons, and owl swooped down on him. He untied the note it carried one-handed and read the hurried but meticulous curves of Albus's handwriting.
Severus-
I had to leave. Harry is still in my office.
I have arranged a potions substitute.
Severus sighed and turned on his heals, striding smoothly through the school. He stopped at the stone gargoyle. "Blood flavored lollipop" he said clearly, wondering at Albus's little display of morbidity. The hideous statue made a labored sort of sigh as it moved aside. He passed through the doorway and approached the closed entrance to Dumbledore's office, immediately alarmed when his hooked nose caught the coppery stench of blood. His pale, long fingered hand trembled as in closed, spider like, around the knob. A pearly canine tore into his rosy bottom lip as he rotated his wrist and pulled open the door.
*********************************************************************
Author's notes: I'm so evil. Tee-hee! Thanks again for all the reviews, you guys are great. So, my response to them!
I-like-chickens- Thanks, and as you can see, I did!
Sarah- Erm... well, thanks... um... I guess you should see my response to I-like-chickens.
Bakajin- Yeah, I'm working on not getting so rushed. Sometimes I just sort of want to get on with it. As for the not writing thing, I kind of forgot that I put that in there. ^^; Oh well, I'll explain it later...
FroBoy- Actually, I mentioned above that it was a calming potion. Thanks for the compliment!
Mordicai- I'll try to keep that in check. It's so big and intimidating though...
kristendotcom- I'm not planning on making it slash, because, I don't know, I just don't feel like it...
DaughterofDeath- In the immortal words of Seifer, "..."
Sword of the Shadow- You're a shiny person.
too lazy to sign in- Ack! All caps! That's intimidating, you know. *hides*
Baby Sphinx- I did!
selua- I'm sitting here trying to figure out if interesting is a good thing, because that's also what people keep saying...
darkanglefrmhell- Calm yourself. Now, use periods. Oh, and it was a calming potion. ^_~
KittenBabyGirl- I assume that you like it then? Good.
human lifeform- Thanks! Wait a minute... cute? Okay, um... slightly confused here, but okay!
ckat44- OMG to you to, and no, no slash in this one.
Rebecca- I will in the future. I'm not with these because I'm lazy...
dark vampire- I don't know if I should be happy or traumatized... maybe both.
"Headmaster, I came to speak to you about Potter."
He gestured towards Harry, who was curled up so tightly on the floor that he looked as if he would fold into nothing. Dumbledore glanced at him for a moment and brought his head into his hands, obviously upset. Snape bit his lip and continued.
"He collapsed in class, and seemed overly distressed when I caught him. He seemed about to have a panic attack, so I gave him a calming potion. Now the way he's acting, something must have happened. Someone must have... He's showing the same signs I did when..."
He trailed off, unconsciously wrapping his arms around his waist protectively. Blue eyes watched him sadly.
"I truly hope you're wrong, Severus, but I doubt it."
At this, the professor seemed to come back to himself. Hurriedly dropping his arms to his sides, he cleared his throat.
"I should be getting back to my class. No doubt Longbottom has managed to destroy the dungeons by now. I'll leave you to speak to Potter. Oh, and-" Snape flicked his wand muttering 'Lucem,' and Harry pulled his arms over his face. "I'll be leaving now." He strode out the door without another word.
*********************************************************************
Harry gasped and hugged his arms to his face as he felt the familiar effects of the revealing charm. He heard Dumbledore rise and flinched as the headmaster bent down to lift his chin gently. The old man gasped at the sight that greeted him. Harry's jaw was horribly swollen, the parts of his terribly thin face that weren't bruised were ghostly white, and he looked more tired than seemed humanly possible. There were bruises on his neck that seemed to continue onto his chest, his left wrist bent unnaturally, and he appeared to have been starved nearly to death. Dumbledore forced him to gaze into his eyes and spoke softly.
"Harry, I'm going to need you to remove your robes so that I can see your injuries. Can you do that for me?"
Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder, and Harry scrambled backwards until he collided with the desk, where he curled up on the floor and tried to hold back a sob. He failed, and it tore through his throat like an arrow through wool. The headmaster stared at him wearily, waiting for him to calm himself. As he began to recover, another face appeared in the fire. McGonagall's head spoke frantically.
"Albus, I just got an owl from Mundungus. There's apparently a plan for an attack on Hogsmeade, we need you to come now."
Dumbledore nodded and turned to Harry.
"Stay here. I'll be back ass soon as I possibly can be."
*********************************************************************
Harry sat on the floor of Dumbledore's office, alone and hating himself. How could he have been so weak as to let this happen, to let them find out? He had seen Dumbledore's face, had seen his pain. He would never stop hurting people. He looked around the room and his eyes locked on the sword on the wall, Gryffindor's sword. He pulled out his wand. "Accio sword." It flew obediently into his swollen hand. The blade, with a sinister shimmer, fell in his right hand and was placed several inches below the delicate crook where the neck and the collarbone meet, as close to the heart as it possibly could be without breaking the skin. Harry gripped the hilt until his hands shook and thrust it into his pounding heart with all his strength. Dark cherry red seeped out of his robes, onto the floor, and more still spilled from his mouth as he coughed violently, gasping for breath. He suddenly realized that he had fallen to the ground where he lay in a puddle of his own blood. Its metallic scent filled his nostrils, disgustingly pungent, yet oddly fragrant. 'Pretty really, so red...' he thought vaguely. He didn't have the chance to chuckle at the irony of his last thought before he sank into the darkness.
'The Boy-Who-Lived died.'
*********************************************************************
As Severus Snape entered the dungeons, and owl swooped down on him. He untied the note it carried one-handed and read the hurried but meticulous curves of Albus's handwriting.
Severus-
I had to leave. Harry is still in my office.
I have arranged a potions substitute.
Severus sighed and turned on his heals, striding smoothly through the school. He stopped at the stone gargoyle. "Blood flavored lollipop" he said clearly, wondering at Albus's little display of morbidity. The hideous statue made a labored sort of sigh as it moved aside. He passed through the doorway and approached the closed entrance to Dumbledore's office, immediately alarmed when his hooked nose caught the coppery stench of blood. His pale, long fingered hand trembled as in closed, spider like, around the knob. A pearly canine tore into his rosy bottom lip as he rotated his wrist and pulled open the door.
*********************************************************************
Author's notes: I'm so evil. Tee-hee! Thanks again for all the reviews, you guys are great. So, my response to them!
I-like-chickens- Thanks, and as you can see, I did!
Sarah- Erm... well, thanks... um... I guess you should see my response to I-like-chickens.
Bakajin- Yeah, I'm working on not getting so rushed. Sometimes I just sort of want to get on with it. As for the not writing thing, I kind of forgot that I put that in there. ^^; Oh well, I'll explain it later...
FroBoy- Actually, I mentioned above that it was a calming potion. Thanks for the compliment!
Mordicai- I'll try to keep that in check. It's so big and intimidating though...
kristendotcom- I'm not planning on making it slash, because, I don't know, I just don't feel like it...
DaughterofDeath- In the immortal words of Seifer, "..."
Sword of the Shadow- You're a shiny person.
too lazy to sign in- Ack! All caps! That's intimidating, you know. *hides*
Baby Sphinx- I did!
selua- I'm sitting here trying to figure out if interesting is a good thing, because that's also what people keep saying...
darkanglefrmhell- Calm yourself. Now, use periods. Oh, and it was a calming potion. ^_~
KittenBabyGirl- I assume that you like it then? Good.
human lifeform- Thanks! Wait a minute... cute? Okay, um... slightly confused here, but okay!
ckat44- OMG to you to, and no, no slash in this one.
Rebecca- I will in the future. I'm not with these because I'm lazy...
dark vampire- I don't know if I should be happy or traumatized... maybe both.