I stayed up until 1:54 am working on the last chapter on the 20th. Lets see how long it'll take me to have this one up.... I think I'll have it up by next year. *Grins*
Well, so many of you wanted to kill Vernon. I just don't know...
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any one else in this fic. (Damn...)
The Reluctant Knight in Black Robes
"WHAT THE-"
Vernon let go of Harry's limp body and stared at the man. He could see the fury in the black eyes. Vernon's eyes moved from the man to the police car that was quickly coming closer and back again to the man's wand. The man turned around.
"Inside my tent there's a portkey in the shape of a beer bottle. Take it and get out of here."
Vernon thought this man was mad in more than one way. He was talking to himself! The mad man crossed the entire length of the garage in two strides and pulled Vernon up by the collar in a flash.
"I am Severus Snape Potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And /you/, Dursley, are a worthless piece of crap."
Severus raised his wand.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The only thing the police saw was Vernon falling to the ground. He lay there sprawled on the ground. A young rookie came up to Vernon and took his pulse. He looked up to his elder partner and shook his head.
"I'm no paramedic...but I think he's dead." (A/n: Ya happy?)
At the door stood Petunia and Dudley both in shock. Suddenly Dudley burst into a cross between a fit of sobs and a tantrum on the floor.
"Daddy's dead Mum!!! He's dead!!!"
Petunia got to her knees and helped her son up.
"I know...I know."
"Well, what do we /do/?!?!"
"I don't know."
-----------------------------------------------------------
There was knocking at the door. Severus looked up from Harry's frail frame and to the door. He hadn't wanted to leave Harry in a muggle hospital and did everything in his power to get him into St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
"It's me, Severus."
Severus crossed the room small room and opened the door. In stepped Albus Dumbledore with a now usual tired expression on his face. He seemed to have aged twenty years in the past few weeks of Harry's retrieval. Dumbledore neared the bed where Harry lay comatose. Scary looking machines surrounded him. One showed his heartbeat and another his brain activity. They had decided to use muggle machines on him since those where more effective at the moment.
"No change?"
Severus shook his head and Dumbledore sighed.
"The ministry would like to see you in a week. It's about the boy's Uncle. Apparently you are responsible for his family now."
Severus nodded. Dumbledore sighed again.
"The Slytherins as well as his friends have been trying to come visit him. I have reason to believe some of them are genuinely worried."
"Worried? Professor, those kids have no feelings. I've seen proof of that. You should have seen the way Malfoy laughed when that.../man/...hit Potter."
The tone of Severus voice let Dumbledore know that he didn't consider Vernon Dursley anymore human that Blast-Ended Skrewts.
"Malfoy…Malfoy was the main reason I accepted this suggestion of yours."
The Potions Master narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"Severus, to you at first, this may have been an amusing fixture. But I had bigger ideals than you did. I knew what Harry was going to go through. I wanted /you/ to intercede. I wanted you and the Slytherins to learn to accept him. These are difficult times and you have already proved your loyalty to me. These children, however, will make a difference in the final battle. Harry will need all of us by him, his friends and even his enemies. In the end he will have to fight Voldemort by himself. That is something we cannot help him with. That is something he will have to do on his own."
Severus stared at the Headmaster with utter shock and disbelief.
"On his own?! He's barely fifteen! He couldn't possibly handle /him/!"
Severus threw his hands above his head. There was another knock at the door. Severus answered. He stared with shock into the black eyes of the visitor.
"YOU!"
------------------------------------------------------
(A/n: Notice how this goes in sections? That just keeps me up on the story...stop talking Adri! Keep typing!)
"Yes /ME/!"
Sirius Black pushed past Severus and crossed over to Harry after nodding to Dumbledore. Severus pulled out his wand and aimed it at Black's back. Dumbledore held his arm tentatively.
"It's alright Severus."
"Alright?! Not all right! That man is a murderer!"
"I've explained this to you. You had an agreement."
"Fuck the agreement! Where was /he/ when Harry needed him?!"
Severus realized that was the first time he had ever called the boy Harry. Sirius was too wound up to notice but Dumbledore did.
"I wanted to help!"
"If you wanted you would have!"
"How is it any of your business?! Why are you here?! You want nothing to do with the Potter's remember?!"
Severus froze. He lowered his voice for Harry's sake.
"Stop dwelling on the past, Black."
"I was about to say the same."
Sirius met Severus' black eyes with his own.
"Fine."
Dumbledore watched the two men and wondered if they knew how much they resembled 5 year olds at the moment. Sirius took Harry's hand and spoke barely above a whisper.
"Thank you…for saving him."
Under any other circumstances Severus would have laughed and probably shoved it in his face. But somewhere along the way Dumbledore's crackpot plan of acceptance had worked.
"You're welcome."
Dumbledore smiled brightly and clapped his hands together.
"Look at that! All it took was you two settling to wake up the dead."
Surely enough Harry opened his eyes. His bright green eyes where dull but still very captivating. He looked at Severus and at Dumbledore then up at Sirius. He squeezed his Godfather's hand.
"You came back."
Harry's voice sounded alien even to himself.
"Of course I did. I always will come back."
Harry blacked out again.
------------------------------------------------------
"I came as soon as I could. How is he?"
Hermione Granger's voice was close to cracking and she looked about ready to break down.
"He's woken up."
Ron Weasley reassured her with a smile. Hermione felt the tears well up in her eyes and embraced Ron with all her might for support. He was caught off guard but hugged her and suddenly felt better than he had in the past week since he'd found out about Harry's whereabouts.
"Thank goodness!"
"Don't worry. He'll be okay. He's the 'Boy Who Lived' after all."
Hermione shook her head warily but a smile tugged at her lips.
"I know. He will be. He just has to be."
Hermione's parents were deep in conversation with the Weasley's. Fred and George didn't seem to have any jokes up their sleeves for the while and Ginny just stared at the wall listlessly. Percy, Bill and Charlie were deep in conversation with the Granger's as well. Hermione turned to Ron.
"Do you know what happened?"
Ron nodded and motioned for her to sit down.
"Dad told me everything. Snape had some 'expedition' planed for the Slytherins. They have been 'studying' Harry for about a month."
"/Studying?!/ What do you mean-"
Ron help up his hand.
"Let me finish. Okay, well they'd been studying him for a month and his uncle treated Harry very badly. He…he beat him a lot. And two weeks ago Snape finally decided to do something and got Harry out of there. But not before Harry's uncle tried to actually kill him."
"I knew it! That foul-that evil! That disgusting scum of man!"
Ron looked around nervously.
"Hermione we're in a hospital. Calm down."
Taking deep breaths Hermione calmed down. Ron looked to his hands then to his family talking with the Grangers. Hermione searched for Ron's eyes.
"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me everything?"
Ron didn't meet her eyes. He stared at his hands, at the soles of his shoes, anywhere but to Hermione's eyes.
"Ron. I'll find out anyways. Tell me. I want to hear this from you."
"Snape killed Dursley."
Hermione gasped and covered her mouth.
"God...."
"I know. And the strangest thing is...he did it for Harry."
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Isn't Snape going to be in trouble with the ministry though?"
"Yes, Bill of course he will be. But you have to remember not all of the ministry members are muggle-fans--"
"Like you?"
Arthur Weasley looked to his other son Charlie.
"Yes, like me. And with Cornelius Fudge and Dumbledore on bad terms...well, I still think Snape has a good chance of getting off."
"Getting off?! Dad you've got to be kidding me?"
"Percy, Snape saved Harry's life. You need see past what Fudge wants everyone to think. Despite what he's told you. Vol-Vol…You-Know-Who is back."
"Its doesn't make any sense-"
"Well things don't always make sense now do they?"
Hermione was out of her shock and walked to the older crowd with Ron at her side. Ron looked as set as Hermione. He put a hand on her shoulder and met his older brother's eyes as well as everyone else's.
"We've learned that in just five years of knowing Harry. I would think that you, as adults, would know that too. Hagrid told Harry that what would come, would come ... and we'd have to meet it when it did. And that's what we'll do."
The Mediwizard came into the room followed by Sirius, Severus and Dumbledore. Dumbledore went over to Ron and smiled at him.
"Very well said Mr. Weasley."
He turned to the rest of them.
"Our young Mr. Potter's sleeping for the while. After he wakes up he would want to see you all."
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. She felt Ron's hand take hers and gave it a warm squeeze.
"Thank God."
-----------------------------------------------------------
Merry X-mas!!! I wish you all the best. Thanks for sticking by.
Carpe Diem! If you ever listen to anything listen to that.
I wanted to post this on x-mas eve but my adorable little brother ran over the computer cord and everything went bye-bye. I got it back. Hope you liked this one.
Thank you all who reviewed the previous chapter. My thank you notes got lost along the way.
Lei Dumbledore: *Backing away* okay, okay! No food or water until the next chapter. Got it!
leggy-stinks: Thank you for your compliments. Now for Snape...should he be a softie?
Diana Lucille Snape: Wow! You think I can get away with that this x-mas??? I could print the fic out and wrap it or something. He he he! Hey I'm broke what do you want from me?
Angels Prayer: *giggle fit* I guess Ally was right. I am evil! I hope you liked this one then.
Lyn: I know! It's just that I've lost it for a while. I had to the deal with stuff before I had time to deal with the fic.
Lady Lightning: And about time to! That idiot just stood there...wait, I made him stand there...that idiot author just made him stand there!
Jaded Green: ASAP!
Radcliffe-Lover: Dies? Dies???? That's an interesting concept... (Love, love, love Dan!) Which is also the reason I'm reluctant to hurt Harry. I think Harry, picture Daniel. Grrr…kinda messed up.
Prd2bAmerican18: I will when I've got the chance.
Kimbra: Damn, I know. Draco had Snape breathing down his back. Cool, I've hooked someone! Now be patient...I'm not very dependable on these kind of things.
Cricket: Well yah, they're slow. I'll try much harder. Especially since I'm finally on a holiday.
Phire Phoenix: Sorry. I'll do it again though. Keeps the story interesting.
bluebird161221: Difficult? Nah! I write my best on impulse. If I feel particularly keen then I write a lot. I think I'm getting better at this.
cheer: Vernon dead coming right up!!!
Naomi SilverWolf: Will do! It's Xmas after all!
Kandra: Well people seem to be Pro: kill Vernon. So I'll try that. I'll also have a chapter where he doesn't die so if people want him alive I can do that too.
fizzysoda: Sure!!!
Prd2bAmerican18: Will do!
mell: Wow...okay here.
Well, so many of you wanted to kill Vernon. I just don't know...
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any one else in this fic. (Damn...)
The Reluctant Knight in Black Robes
"WHAT THE-"
Vernon let go of Harry's limp body and stared at the man. He could see the fury in the black eyes. Vernon's eyes moved from the man to the police car that was quickly coming closer and back again to the man's wand. The man turned around.
"Inside my tent there's a portkey in the shape of a beer bottle. Take it and get out of here."
Vernon thought this man was mad in more than one way. He was talking to himself! The mad man crossed the entire length of the garage in two strides and pulled Vernon up by the collar in a flash.
"I am Severus Snape Potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And /you/, Dursley, are a worthless piece of crap."
Severus raised his wand.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The only thing the police saw was Vernon falling to the ground. He lay there sprawled on the ground. A young rookie came up to Vernon and took his pulse. He looked up to his elder partner and shook his head.
"I'm no paramedic...but I think he's dead." (A/n: Ya happy?)
At the door stood Petunia and Dudley both in shock. Suddenly Dudley burst into a cross between a fit of sobs and a tantrum on the floor.
"Daddy's dead Mum!!! He's dead!!!"
Petunia got to her knees and helped her son up.
"I know...I know."
"Well, what do we /do/?!?!"
"I don't know."
-----------------------------------------------------------
There was knocking at the door. Severus looked up from Harry's frail frame and to the door. He hadn't wanted to leave Harry in a muggle hospital and did everything in his power to get him into St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
"It's me, Severus."
Severus crossed the room small room and opened the door. In stepped Albus Dumbledore with a now usual tired expression on his face. He seemed to have aged twenty years in the past few weeks of Harry's retrieval. Dumbledore neared the bed where Harry lay comatose. Scary looking machines surrounded him. One showed his heartbeat and another his brain activity. They had decided to use muggle machines on him since those where more effective at the moment.
"No change?"
Severus shook his head and Dumbledore sighed.
"The ministry would like to see you in a week. It's about the boy's Uncle. Apparently you are responsible for his family now."
Severus nodded. Dumbledore sighed again.
"The Slytherins as well as his friends have been trying to come visit him. I have reason to believe some of them are genuinely worried."
"Worried? Professor, those kids have no feelings. I've seen proof of that. You should have seen the way Malfoy laughed when that.../man/...hit Potter."
The tone of Severus voice let Dumbledore know that he didn't consider Vernon Dursley anymore human that Blast-Ended Skrewts.
"Malfoy…Malfoy was the main reason I accepted this suggestion of yours."
The Potions Master narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"Severus, to you at first, this may have been an amusing fixture. But I had bigger ideals than you did. I knew what Harry was going to go through. I wanted /you/ to intercede. I wanted you and the Slytherins to learn to accept him. These are difficult times and you have already proved your loyalty to me. These children, however, will make a difference in the final battle. Harry will need all of us by him, his friends and even his enemies. In the end he will have to fight Voldemort by himself. That is something we cannot help him with. That is something he will have to do on his own."
Severus stared at the Headmaster with utter shock and disbelief.
"On his own?! He's barely fifteen! He couldn't possibly handle /him/!"
Severus threw his hands above his head. There was another knock at the door. Severus answered. He stared with shock into the black eyes of the visitor.
"YOU!"
------------------------------------------------------
(A/n: Notice how this goes in sections? That just keeps me up on the story...stop talking Adri! Keep typing!)
"Yes /ME/!"
Sirius Black pushed past Severus and crossed over to Harry after nodding to Dumbledore. Severus pulled out his wand and aimed it at Black's back. Dumbledore held his arm tentatively.
"It's alright Severus."
"Alright?! Not all right! That man is a murderer!"
"I've explained this to you. You had an agreement."
"Fuck the agreement! Where was /he/ when Harry needed him?!"
Severus realized that was the first time he had ever called the boy Harry. Sirius was too wound up to notice but Dumbledore did.
"I wanted to help!"
"If you wanted you would have!"
"How is it any of your business?! Why are you here?! You want nothing to do with the Potter's remember?!"
Severus froze. He lowered his voice for Harry's sake.
"Stop dwelling on the past, Black."
"I was about to say the same."
Sirius met Severus' black eyes with his own.
"Fine."
Dumbledore watched the two men and wondered if they knew how much they resembled 5 year olds at the moment. Sirius took Harry's hand and spoke barely above a whisper.
"Thank you…for saving him."
Under any other circumstances Severus would have laughed and probably shoved it in his face. But somewhere along the way Dumbledore's crackpot plan of acceptance had worked.
"You're welcome."
Dumbledore smiled brightly and clapped his hands together.
"Look at that! All it took was you two settling to wake up the dead."
Surely enough Harry opened his eyes. His bright green eyes where dull but still very captivating. He looked at Severus and at Dumbledore then up at Sirius. He squeezed his Godfather's hand.
"You came back."
Harry's voice sounded alien even to himself.
"Of course I did. I always will come back."
Harry blacked out again.
------------------------------------------------------
"I came as soon as I could. How is he?"
Hermione Granger's voice was close to cracking and she looked about ready to break down.
"He's woken up."
Ron Weasley reassured her with a smile. Hermione felt the tears well up in her eyes and embraced Ron with all her might for support. He was caught off guard but hugged her and suddenly felt better than he had in the past week since he'd found out about Harry's whereabouts.
"Thank goodness!"
"Don't worry. He'll be okay. He's the 'Boy Who Lived' after all."
Hermione shook her head warily but a smile tugged at her lips.
"I know. He will be. He just has to be."
Hermione's parents were deep in conversation with the Weasley's. Fred and George didn't seem to have any jokes up their sleeves for the while and Ginny just stared at the wall listlessly. Percy, Bill and Charlie were deep in conversation with the Granger's as well. Hermione turned to Ron.
"Do you know what happened?"
Ron nodded and motioned for her to sit down.
"Dad told me everything. Snape had some 'expedition' planed for the Slytherins. They have been 'studying' Harry for about a month."
"/Studying?!/ What do you mean-"
Ron help up his hand.
"Let me finish. Okay, well they'd been studying him for a month and his uncle treated Harry very badly. He…he beat him a lot. And two weeks ago Snape finally decided to do something and got Harry out of there. But not before Harry's uncle tried to actually kill him."
"I knew it! That foul-that evil! That disgusting scum of man!"
Ron looked around nervously.
"Hermione we're in a hospital. Calm down."
Taking deep breaths Hermione calmed down. Ron looked to his hands then to his family talking with the Grangers. Hermione searched for Ron's eyes.
"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me everything?"
Ron didn't meet her eyes. He stared at his hands, at the soles of his shoes, anywhere but to Hermione's eyes.
"Ron. I'll find out anyways. Tell me. I want to hear this from you."
"Snape killed Dursley."
Hermione gasped and covered her mouth.
"God...."
"I know. And the strangest thing is...he did it for Harry."
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Isn't Snape going to be in trouble with the ministry though?"
"Yes, Bill of course he will be. But you have to remember not all of the ministry members are muggle-fans--"
"Like you?"
Arthur Weasley looked to his other son Charlie.
"Yes, like me. And with Cornelius Fudge and Dumbledore on bad terms...well, I still think Snape has a good chance of getting off."
"Getting off?! Dad you've got to be kidding me?"
"Percy, Snape saved Harry's life. You need see past what Fudge wants everyone to think. Despite what he's told you. Vol-Vol…You-Know-Who is back."
"Its doesn't make any sense-"
"Well things don't always make sense now do they?"
Hermione was out of her shock and walked to the older crowd with Ron at her side. Ron looked as set as Hermione. He put a hand on her shoulder and met his older brother's eyes as well as everyone else's.
"We've learned that in just five years of knowing Harry. I would think that you, as adults, would know that too. Hagrid told Harry that what would come, would come ... and we'd have to meet it when it did. And that's what we'll do."
The Mediwizard came into the room followed by Sirius, Severus and Dumbledore. Dumbledore went over to Ron and smiled at him.
"Very well said Mr. Weasley."
He turned to the rest of them.
"Our young Mr. Potter's sleeping for the while. After he wakes up he would want to see you all."
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. She felt Ron's hand take hers and gave it a warm squeeze.
"Thank God."
-----------------------------------------------------------
Merry X-mas!!! I wish you all the best. Thanks for sticking by.
Carpe Diem! If you ever listen to anything listen to that.
I wanted to post this on x-mas eve but my adorable little brother ran over the computer cord and everything went bye-bye. I got it back. Hope you liked this one.
Thank you all who reviewed the previous chapter. My thank you notes got lost along the way.
Lei Dumbledore: *Backing away* okay, okay! No food or water until the next chapter. Got it!
leggy-stinks: Thank you for your compliments. Now for Snape...should he be a softie?
Diana Lucille Snape: Wow! You think I can get away with that this x-mas??? I could print the fic out and wrap it or something. He he he! Hey I'm broke what do you want from me?
Angels Prayer: *giggle fit* I guess Ally was right. I am evil! I hope you liked this one then.
Lyn: I know! It's just that I've lost it for a while. I had to the deal with stuff before I had time to deal with the fic.
Lady Lightning: And about time to! That idiot just stood there...wait, I made him stand there...that idiot author just made him stand there!
Jaded Green: ASAP!
Radcliffe-Lover: Dies? Dies???? That's an interesting concept... (Love, love, love Dan!) Which is also the reason I'm reluctant to hurt Harry. I think Harry, picture Daniel. Grrr…kinda messed up.
Prd2bAmerican18: I will when I've got the chance.
Kimbra: Damn, I know. Draco had Snape breathing down his back. Cool, I've hooked someone! Now be patient...I'm not very dependable on these kind of things.
Cricket: Well yah, they're slow. I'll try much harder. Especially since I'm finally on a holiday.
Phire Phoenix: Sorry. I'll do it again though. Keeps the story interesting.
bluebird161221: Difficult? Nah! I write my best on impulse. If I feel particularly keen then I write a lot. I think I'm getting better at this.
cheer: Vernon dead coming right up!!!
Naomi SilverWolf: Will do! It's Xmas after all!
Kandra: Well people seem to be Pro: kill Vernon. So I'll try that. I'll also have a chapter where he doesn't die so if people want him alive I can do that too.
fizzysoda: Sure!!!
Prd2bAmerican18: Will do!
mell: Wow...okay here.
