11. Escape
Severus felt it immediately when Hogwarts' wards collapsed and took both geas and binding spells with them.
It was early spring, and the full moon was only a few days away. Black was at the castle for a week, visiting his godson, and so Harry had been unable to visit. Severus worried and tried to distract himself from the geas by reading the seventh year level Potions texts that Harry had charmed and left for him. They did little to soothe his nerves.
Nicholas and Joseph were unable to visit as often either. Apparently, there were rumours that Voldemort was planning something, perhaps an attack, and the headmaster had enlisted the aid of ghosts, poltergeist and portraits to guard the castle and its grounds. Nicholas had been able to slip by the Shack the night before to let Severus know Harry was looking pale and skittish again and that he was trying as unobtrusively as he could to avoid spending time alone with Black. However, his friends and teachers seemed to conspire against him, mistaking his distress for Voldemort-related worries.
Severus knew better, but he was unable to do or say anything as the geas' noose tightened around his throat.
If only Harry could slip out of the castle and come to him for a little while. But Black didn't know that Harry spent so much of his time with Severus, and they both wanted to keep it that way. At least the headmaster and Lupin agreed on that as well, for Harry had mentioned that they'd told his godfather the same lie as his fellow students, that he spent that time training with Lupin, Dumbledore or Flitwick. This was in part now the truth, at least for the times that Harry disappeared on the weekend.
Then, three nights before the full moon, four days before Black was finally due to leave, Hogwarts' wards collapsed.
There was a sizzle in the air, and all of a sudden the noose was gone, and Severus was shrieking, shrieking, shrieking, as the werewolf tore him apart. A hook seemed to embed itself in his soul, and it pulled him sideways with a lurch, then through the walls of the Shack and out into the open air for the first time in twenty-one years. In a daze, Severus looked at the stars above, the twinkling lights of Hogsmeade to his left, and the black shadow of Hogwarts against the night sky to his right. He stopped screaming and concentrated on stopping his stigmata from appearing, even though it felt so good to be able to display them and thus express the injustice done to him. The hook that was lodged in his chest propelled him forward, toward the Forbidden Forest.
My grave, Severus realised. I am being led to my grave.
Severus caught a glimpse of the groundskeeper's hut, and then he was flying through the trees and into the forest. He was not taken far, and not even to a clearing, just an nondescript patch of grass between two trees. There was nothing to mark the spot, but Severus felt the faint touch of magic that indicated Dumbledore had buried him here, and according to Wizarding rites as well. Did this mean...?
If Severus had still been alive, his heart would have been pounding as he moved down into the earth. Severus found his bones, and trailed his fingers over the broken and gnawed remains of his body. His flesh had long ago decayed or been eaten away, leaving only brittle bone, tooth and nail. His fingers tangled in his own hair, matted and filthy with blood and dirt.
I am dead, Severus thought, even though he had already known that for twenty-one years. Seeing his own physical remains, however, seemed a confirmation that he had needed and been denied for so long. This is not me. I am dead, free of these trappings.
He was free.
Unable to delay any longer, Severus turned his attention to the mess of little bones that had once been his hands and fingers. Among them lay his wand. Severus lovingly stroked the scarred and gnawed wood. The werewolf must have chewed on it, but had not, thank Merlin, snapped it. It was whole, and for the first time in over twenty-one years, Severus felt that way as well. He closed his hand around the scarred wood, felt resistance, and then moved up through the earth, wand clenched in his fist.
Floating between the trees in the moonlit forest, Severus stared at the wand, his wand, he held in his hand. All that was left in that shallow grave was a piece of wood and a unicorn's hair.
Severus bit his lip and tried to remember the spell that would conceal a ghost from any living thing.
"Abde Umbram Meam."
He felt the pull of energy, felt himself flicker in and out of awareness as the spell drained the power it needed from him. Then the spell seemed to settle, and the energy transfer steadied to a slow drip. He would not be able to maintain the spell indefinitely, and he would have to be careful casting any more spells lest he exhaust himself, but he should be able to keep it up long enough to get into Hogwarts unnoticed.
Hogwarts.
Harry!
Severus cursed himself for wasting time. He flew as fast as he could through the forest and over the empty moonlit grounds towards the castle. A heavy feeling of dread weighed Severus down. He hardly took notice of the castle's main doors and the moving staircases, intent only on finding Harry and making sure he was not harmed. He recognised McGonagall's voice sounding through the corridors on a Sonorus charm.
"All students remain in your dorms, I repeat, remain in your dorms. There are still Death Eaters at large –"
He sped through the halls toward the Gryffindor dorms, noticing the scorch marks on the walls and floor and then a body swathed in a black cloak. A white mask lay broken on the stone floor, a few feet away. Severus followed the trail of dark magic away from Gryffindor tower. There had obviously been a duel of some kind, but it was hard to tell between whom.
Then, up ahead, Severus heard a heartbreaking wail that one moment seemed to come from the throat of a man, and the next a dog. He rounded a corner and paused, horrified by the scene before him.
There were more black cloaked figures lying here, and the one closest to him caught Severus' attention first. The wizard was dead; there was no denying that. Blood red eyes stared up at the ceiling from a serpentine face: scaly skin and no nose. Severus could feel the taint of dark magic emanating from the corpse. There was no sign of the wizard's ghost, but it was too early for that anyway.
Next Severus saw Dumbledore, looking even older than his many years, leaning back against a wall. His beard and hair were singed, and there was blood seeping through the sleeve of his canary yellow robes. Lupin had jumped to his side and carefully aided the old wizard to sit on the floor. Lupin had grown old. His face was lined and his hair streaked with grey, although he did seem in good health otherwise.
Then Severus saw Black, who was on his knees, wailing and cradling Harry's body to his chest.
Harry.
Severus was at Harry's side a moment later, oblivious to Black, to Flitwick and Pomfrey trying to coax him to give them the body.
Harry's limbs and face were slack. His green eyes were glazed and stared off into nothing. Unlike Voldemort, who had obviously taken some hits while duelling with Dumbledore, Harry was unmarked, and if not for the unnatural stillness and the empty eyes, one might have thought him sleeping. He still held his wand loosely in one hand.
Carefully Severus tried to grasp Harry's hand, and he did not know what to think when there was the very brief resistance of another ghost, before his fingers passed through Harry. Was Harry dead or not?
Flitwick had finally stunned Black, and helped Pomfrey to lay the boy out on the floor. She ran her wand over his body, muttering spells, and Severus watched anxiously, with no idea of what to do.
"Albus, he's not gone yet." The school nurse cried out, and Lupin started to help Dumbledore up and over to Harry.
Severus looked back down at Harry, and tried to grasp his hand. Was there more resistance this time? Not knowing what to do, but knowing that time was running out, Severus waved his wand and cast his second spell in over twenty-one years.
"Revele Umbram Harrius."
A soft glow surrounded Harry's body, superimposing a second image of Harry that was very slowly growing stronger and brighter. He would become a ghost. If they let him die, if he stayed dead, Harry would become a ghost.
However, that took time – it had taken Severus an entire moon to become a ghost – and time was one thing neither of them had. Already Dumbledore had joined Pomfrey, reinforcing the preliminary spells she had cast to prevent Harry from going further from them. Lupin was taking up his wand, and Flitwick was quickly casting another binding spell on Black before he too joined the other three wizards.
Severus started calling Harry's name, desperately trying to remember if he had read any spells that would stop their efforts to bring Harry back.
"You don't want to go back, Harry, you don't. Come with me, I'll keep you safe and he'll never touch you again. I swear it, Harry, please."
But already the soft glow was starting to fade, and Severus had to fight himself not to attack Dumbledore and the others. He had to concentrate on calling Harry to him.
"Severus."
Startled, Severus spun around. Before him stood the Bloody Baron, with Nicholas and Joseph just behind him, and behind them were gathered all of Hogwarts' ghosts and its one poltergeist. Dumbledore, Pomfrey, Lupin, Flitwick and Black were oblivious to the congregation of ghosts.
"Harry Potter is neither alive nor dead, but to force him to our side before his time would be unforgivable." It was the first time Severus had ever heard the Bloody Baron speak, and his voice was low and hoarse, every word solemnly chosen and intoned.
Severus' shoulders slumped, and in his mind, he could already hear Nicholas telling him to let Harry go, let him move on with his life.
"Are you willing to make that choice and answer to Harry Potter's shade for it?"
"What?" Severus could hardly believe what he was hearing.
Nicholas stepped forward to explain.
"Harry is in limbo, and either choice may wrong him. Will you take responsibility for Harry's death, or let Dumbledore take responsibility for his life? You must decide now, or the headmaster will have made the choice for you."
Severus didn't hesitate. If anyone other than Harry himself had a right to decide for him, it was Severus and not Dumbledore. It might be selfish, but Severus was not going to lose Harry, not now he was this close.
"Help me."
Nicholas smiled, and the Bloody Baron nodded.
"Call him," the Slytherin ghost said, and Severus turned back to Harry. He tried to grasp Harry's hand, ran his fingers through the other boy's hair, and pressed kisses into Harry's lips and face.
"Harry," he whispered, "Harry. It's me, Severus. Come to me. Harry."
In the background, Severus heard the other ghosts take up the chant, calling Harry's name, calling him into the grave.
"Something's wrong –" Dumbledore said, again casting the spell to keep Harry's spirit in his body.
"Is it You-Know-"
"Keep trying."
"Harry, please, Harry."
The ghostly silver glow became stronger, and Severus tightened his hold on the other boy's hand.
Flitwick's effort to aid Dumbledore, Lupin and Pomfrey, made the Petrificus he had cast on Black waver and then collapse. Black howled and threw himself at the three wizards and witch in an attempt to grab Harry again, disrupting their spells. It was all Severus and the other ghosts needed. With a nearly audible snap, the tie between Harry's spirit and his body was broken. Severus pulled the silver essence of the other boy from what was now mere flesh, bone and blood.
"Severus?" Harry asked, confused and disoriented.
"We need to get both of you out of here, follow us," Nicholas interrupted, taking Severus' hand and quickly pulling him away from the crowd, through a wall and down some stairs. Severus let the Gryffindor ghost pull them both along, eyes only for Harry.
"It's all right, Harry," he said, squeezing the other boy's hand. They were speeding through corridors and down stairs, into the heart of Hogwarts' dungeons as the Bloody Baron led the way.
Harry looked down at their joined hands and squeezed Severus' back in return. He smiled at Severus. "Yes. It is now."
